The Quest
by Kalta79
Summary: Marlene is growing up fast, and has already decided who she wants to marry. All she has to do is get some inside help, become an adult, and figure out how to convince him to give up his confirmed bachelorhood and quit thinking of her as the little girl she was when they first met.
1. Chapter 1

Elena stared in total disbelief at Marlene. "Do you…are you…what are you thinking, young lady?" she said as sternly as she could manage. At fourteen, Marlene was blossoming into an intelligent, brave, pretty, and extremely stubborn young woman. And she was usually very sensible, so her asking Elena for help on such a thing threw the older woman for a loop.

"Are you going to help me or not?" Marlene persisted with her original demand.

"You're not old enough yet." Elena pointed out. "If things go wrong, you're probably going to wish you were dead."

"I will be old enough when I put my plan into action! I'm just wanting information right now. I can't ask Aunt Tifa cause she doesn't have the access you do. That won't hurt, will it?" Marlene asked.

Faced with Marlene's intractable stubbornness, Elena smiled as she thought of what trouble her superior was in for. Reno needed a wakeup call, and he wasn't getting any younger, even if he refused to accept that he was getting older. "Okay, I'll tell you what you need to know about Reno." Elena told her while pouring them both tea.

Marlene nearly giggled with delight and clapped her hands, but she stopped herself in time, so she wouldn't prove to Elena that she was still the little girl she was when she first met the Turks. In the intervening years as she grew up, the crush she had developed on Reno had never gone away, like hers for Cloud did. She only knew him as one of the good guys, brave enough to fight the Remnants who had kidnapped her to help Uncle Cloud and save the world. He was silly sometimes, but he was always handsome, intelligent, strong, and he just….he was the most unusual man she had ever known. And as her body started maturing into a woman's, her feelings for Reno started maturing as well.

Reno felt a sudden unearthly chill as he was walking home from another unsuccessful night trying to pick up women at Tifa's bar, and then noticed he was passing by a fortune teller's store that happened to be open this late at night. Shrugging, he decided to ask them something that's been bothering him.

"Welcome to Mommy Fortuna's! I've been expecting you, but I was not able to decipher your problem. Sit, sit!" A garish-looking older woman started gushing over Reno as soon as the bell above the door went off when he entered the establishment.

"I just want to know…" Reno sat down at the small table and paused, feeling uncomfortable about admitting his problems.

"Ah, don't tell me, just give me a twenty and your palm!" Mommy Fortuna said.

Reno reached into his wallet and pulled out a twenty and when he handed it to Mommy Fortuna, she grabbed his hand, examining his palm after she shoved the twenty between her breasts.

"Hmmm…your hesitation must mean you have questions about your love life, I notice the line is having difficulties. Let me consult my crystal ball to get more information." Mommy Fortuna got up and got a divination ball from the wall stand and put it on the table, uttering some gibberish with closed eyes, then opened them and stared at the ball and soon started cackling. "Well, it looks like two younger women will make your life more interesting very soon."

Reno relaxed and smiled. He didn't know why she was so amused by him getting lucky with two women, but he was just glad to hear he was going to get lucky again. "Thanks, lady!" He stood up and left.

"What are you doing here?" Tifa asked Marlene. "You know you aren't allowed in the bar during working hours!"

"That's why I'm here, Aunt Tifa. I want a job." Marlene replied. Reno frequented this bar so much, and she needed to see him interact with other women to confirm what Elena told her about him. Then she'd know enough to get his ring on her finger when she was of age.


	2. Chapter 2

Reno took his usual seat up front at the bar. After he had his first drink, he looked around to see if there were any women worth going after. Spotting an attractive young woman two seats down, he got up and went over to her. "Excuse me, would you happen to have a cigarette?" he asked her. He didn't even like smoking anymore, but he found it useful to not only carry some with him if a woman asked him, and to ask them for one to break the ice.

"Here!" she tossed one in his direction without even bothering to look at him. "Now get out of here before my husband shows up and kicks your ass."

Reno went back to his stool in a foul mood. That damned fortune teller had lied to him. It had been a month, and he hadn't had any luck getting one woman since then, let alone two. What was going on with the women in this town? He was still the 'Playboy of Midgar' after all, wasn't he? Lighting up the cigarette to at least make sure that bitch wouldn't get it back, he amused himself by thinking how she had no idea who he was, and he could probably kick her husband's ass twice over without breaking a sweat.

"I didn't know Reno smoked." Marlene said to Tifa as she carried another load of dirty dishes into the back to wash them. All Tifa would hire her to do is bus tables and wash dishes, but it still gave her an opportunity to study Reno.

"He doesn't. Something must really be bothering him." Tifa replied. She had an idea of what it was, but Marlene was still too young to know about that kind of thing yet.

"Can I get those for you?" Marlene asked him a couple hours later after he had another failed pickup attempt, pointing at his empty glasses.

Reno looked up from his glass at the young girl who seemed familiar. "Do I know you?"

"It's me, Marlene." she told him.

"Little Marlene? You're too young to be here, aren't you? How old are you now?" Reno tried to see if there was any more alcohol he could nurse out of his glass.

"I'm a bus-girl and dishwasher to save up for college. I'll be fifteen in three months." Marlene controlled her flare of temper at Reno thinking she was still a little girl, it was too early in the game to risk blowing her chances with him yet.

"That old already? Good luck with your job." Reno threw some gil down on the table to cover his bill, and then surprised Marlene by giving her some as well. "Here's a donation to your higher education."

Marlene watched Reno leave the bar, then stared down at the money he had given her. Smiling, she thought that she would put that money and any more he gave her in a special savings account for their wedding.

As Reno walked home, he stopped to piss on Mommy Fortuna's door to let her know what he thought of her.

"You're marrying Elena?" Reno asked his longtime partner, staring at him in shock.

"Yeah, and I'd like you to be my Best Man." Rude told him.

Reno couldn't control his shaking his head at first. What the hell was with everyone turning into marrying fools? He knew Elena enough to know that he was going to lose Rude as his 'partner in crime' for partying. But at least he could give Rude a bachelor party of the century. Reno smiled at that. "Okay, I'll do it."

Reno felt like a million bucks when he woke up on the day of the wedding. He knew Rude wouldn't touch the stripper, but Reno quite enjoyed her company all night long. The Playboy of Midgar was still in business!

At the reception, at Elena's request, Reno danced with Marlene, who was one of the bridesmaids. "So, which of these young men are you trying to make jealous?" Reno asked Marlene.

"Huh?" she felt herself blushing.

"Come on, you must have your eye on one of these young men. You're fifteen now, aren't you?"

"I'm sixteen." Marlene concentrated on the dancing steps as a way to distract herself from her body reacting to Reno's presence. She had paid attention to what attributes the woman he went after had, and nature had been kind to her in that respect. But she still had a long wait before she would be able to make her feelings plain to him.

"Already? Well, let me know if you want help to make some of these guys jealous. We could always act like we're going to elope, since at Cloud and Tifa's wedding you asked me to marry you, and I said 'Sure.'"

"I was eight years old then." Marlene felt herself blushing harder as she fought to keep herself from blurting out that she wanted to marry him now.

"Okay, time for a drink." Reno said when the music changed and headed for the bar. Seeing an attractive woman sitting there crying, he offered his handkerchief to her.

"It's part of my duty as Best Man to make sure everyone is having a good time, especially pretty women." Reno started one of his favorite pickup routines, except he had never done it as the Best Man before.

"Get away from me, you perverted old fart!" The young woman angrily snapped at him. "I don't need a jerk like you right now!"

"Reno's not an old fart!" Marlene had followed Reno to the bar. "He's the Best Man because he really is the best man here! You apologize to him! "

"When my boyfriend apologizes for breaking up with me this morning first!" the woman blurted out and started crying again.

Reno didn't hear Marlene's defense of him or the woman's explanation for her behavior, as soon as the woman started being insulting, Reno made a quick exit. Old fart? How could anyone say that to him? He wasn't even forty yet! When he got home that night, he got some of his expensive scotch out and fell asleep wondering why he was spending more and more of his time alone.


	3. Chapter 3

"Don't ever tell your Aunt Tifa, but if she hadn't always been so crazy about Cloud, I'd have done my best to tap that ass long ago. Yuffie was quite agile and willing for a good time at least, before she married Tseng and moved back to Wutai." A drunk Reno told Marlene as he watched her pick up dirty glasses from the bar. She was the only person who didn't seem to mind listening to him anymore.

"So Aunt Tifa was special to you?" Marlene asked, noticing the slight wistfulness in his voice when he talked about her. Over the past few months, she had gotten used to him going on about all the women he had been with over the years whenever he came into the bar, but this was different.

"Huh?" Reno was surprised at the question and felt embarrassed. "No, I just liked that she had certain ideals and stuck to them. Sure they were romantic and silly, but she had guts. Still does." Reno looked at his empty glass. "I need a refill, Marlene."

"That's enough for you tonight, Reno. You know she can't touch the alcohol yet, she's barely seventeen, so pay up and go home." Tifa said in an unarguable tone as she came out of the women's bathroom with a mop and bucket in her hands, and went into the men's bathroom, and surprised exclamations could be heard followed by two men coming out quickly with red faces.

"Your Aunt Tifa can also be a damned bossy pain in the ass." Reno said as he threw some gil down on the bar and left.

Marlene got a new idea on how to make some headway with her plans for her and Reno's future, somewhat spurred by a slight feeling of jealousy listening to how he talked about Aunt Tifa, but mostly by how lonely he obviously was. She couldn't stand to see him like that. All his stories about his exploits were all past tense, and she could tell it bothered him.

"What is this?" Reno asked as he saw an envelope on his usual bar stool when he came in. He wasn't in the best mood, he was getting annoying at running into past conquests and them gushing over their fiancé or husband. None of the women he knew wanted to just have fun anymore. Picking the envelope up, he noticed it was addressed to _Big Red Turk_. Opening it, he pulled out a letter and started reading it in shocked amazement. The terms were so explicit it was like watching a porno. The woman who wrote it…and it had to be a woman, they said they were, had signed it _Your Secret Admirer_. "Wow…this lady must be really hard up!" Reno exclaimed.

"What's up?" Cloud asked, playing bartender while Tifa was home with a sprained ankle and twisted knee from a workout gone bad.

"This throbbing between my legs…" Reno started reading part of it out loud.

"What the hell is wrong with you? We've got kids here!" Cloud looked around to make sure Marlene was nowhere nearby. He started to be shocked at Reno's behavior, then realized that he'd be more shocked if Reno didn't do something like this. "Who wrote that?"

"My secret admirer, not yours." Reno kept reading the letter over and over again, feeling the sun shine on his world again as he took his time downing his usual drinks.

Marlene was peeking out from the kitchen and witnessed the scene between Reno and Cloud. When she was on her break, she made a phone call. "Elena, it's me. He liked the first letter, what should I do now?"


	4. Chapter 4

"Reno has sure been happy lately." Rude said as he got into bed with his wife.

"You say that like it's a bad thing." Elena replied, smiling as her husband took her in his arms. She had subtly found out from Rude what kind of pornographic media Reno liked, and used the information to give Marlene a list of what to include in each of the letters to keep Reno hooked.

Tifa was cleaning under a table at 7th Heaven before opening when she noticed Marlene sneak out from the kitchen and put something on Reno's usual barstool. Getting up once Marlene was back in the kitchen, she walked over and picked up the envelope. _Big Red Turk_? What was Marlene doing leaving letters for Reno? She couldn't open it in good conscience open it, but she was curious, so she'd either find out from Reno or Marlene. Putting the envelope back, she continued making sure everything was ready for the weekend crowd.

Reno stepped out of the shower, eager to find out if his secret admirer had left him any more letters. The three he had gotten so far were amazing. He had no idea what the woman looked like, and part of him wondered if it was possible for a woman to be as attractive as intelligent and sexy as her letters were. Reno hoped no one knew about those mornings he woke up from wet dreams imagining he was doing to his admirer what she wrote about, only to find himself doing them to his pillows instead. He was worried she might be spying on him, because she seemed to know him so well.

Hurrying to the bar, he was thrilled to see the envelope on his seat when he walked in just after opening. Ripping it open, he couldn't help the smile that spread across his face as he read all about the sexual adoration she had for him. She had explained in her second letter that she couldn't meet him in person yet, because she wanted everything to be perfect, and Reno had no problem with that. He didn't want to ruin the best thing he had going for him in years.

"You mind picking that up, Reno?" Tifa asked him.

"Huh?" Reno had no idea what she was talking about.

"That!" Tifa pointed to the shredded envelope on the floor.

"Oh…sorry." Reno mumbled and bent down to pick it up, and Tifa hurriedly scanned the letter in his hand, trying to control the shock as she only read a couple sentences before Reno had picked up the envelope and was putting it and the letter in his jacket pocket. "Happy now?" he asked. "Hey, why is your face so red?"

"I…I need to go lie down. Clara, would you take over for a while?" Tifa asked her other bartender, then hurried to her office once Clara agreed. Tifa laid down on the couch, trying to calm herself down. Little Marlene was involved in giving **Reno** such explicit letters?! _Please let her just be delivering them and not know what they contain!_ Tifa prayed, then realized with a second shock that Marlene wasn't so little anymore. She was seventeen…in less than a year, she'd be legally an adult. Marlene was already going to college in a special high school program for advanced students, and she wanted a double major in education and child psychology. She and Cloud were proud of both her and Denzel, even if they were both saddened by how Denzel distanced himself from them now. He was in college, studying to be a chiropractor. He had a girlfriend he planned to marry when they graduated, who was studying to be an accountant. Though he never said it, Tifa had a feeling Denzel was worn out by the constant upheavals he'd been through, and how the planet kept seeming to be at jeopardy with Tifa, Cloud, and their allies the only ones able to save it. Denzel just wanted a boring life now, and she and Cloud just wanted him to be happy.

"Aunt Tifa, are you okay?" Marlene asked, poking her head inside the office. "Clara said you weren't feeling good and needed to lie down."

"Come in and close the door, please." Tifa requested. "I need to talk to you."

Surprised, Marlene did as Tifa asked, and sat down next to her on the couch. "Talk to me about what?"

"About Big Red Turks." Tifa decided to just go with the upfront approach. Marlene was too smart to not figure out a subtle approach anyway.

Marlene's cheeks reddened. "Are….what…I mean…you're not spying on me, are you?!" She tried to pretend to be outraged, but she was just terribly embarrassed that Tifa had found out before she was ready to tell her, preferably after she and Reno eloped after she graduated from college in three years. She loved the idea of running away with him, it seemed so romantic.

"You are responsible for the letters? I had hoped you were just delivering them. I know I've talked to you about sex, but Reno is…" Tifa tried to figure out what to say next.

"He's the man I love!" Marlene exclaimed.

" **What**?!" Tifa was glad she was already lying down on the couch, because she felt like passing out.

"I love Reno." Marlene said, quietly but firmly.

Tifa took a deep breath, wondering how she and the others failed Marlene to have her think she loved Reno. "He's twenty years older than you and he's…haven't you heard about his reputation?"

"I love Reno." Marlene repeated, that stubborn look in her eyes appearing that Tifa knew all too well.

"Have you and he…" Tifa swallowed hard. "done anything?"

"No, he doesn't even know it's me. He's not going to, not til next year. I have it all planned out." Marlene explained.

As Tifa listened to Marlene's plans for her and Reno's future together, the only thing that comforted her is that Marlene actually did have a plan. How did this happen without any of them knowing about it? And Reno was terribly lonely, even if he wouldn't admit it. Maybe…Tifa shook her head. What was she thinking? "If you and Reno haven't done anything yet, where'd you get those ideas for the letters?"

"I asked Elena for help when I decided I wanted to marry Reno. She has access to his file." Marlene admitted.

"And when did you decide this?" Tifa wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer though.

"When I was fourteen." Marlene told her.

"Fourteen?" Tifa couldn't handle this anymore. She knew Marlene used to have a crush on Reno when she was a kid, but she had assumed that was long over. "Go back to the kitchen, please. And tell Carla I'll be out there in a couple minutes." As soon as Marlene left, Tifa went to her desk drawer and pulled out the bottle of strong whiskey she kept there for emergencies. She had only drunk from it once or twice in the last…was it fifteen years already? Tifa shook her head again and down her shot glass in one gulp. Grimacing at the taste, she put it back and went to resume her bartending.

"Feeling better now?" Reno asked.

Tifa glared at him and wasn't aware she had made a fist until her elbow hit one of the bottles behind her when she drew back to hit him. "That's none of your damned business." she replied as she forced herself to relax.

Reno was surprised at her behavior, then just shrugged it off as her monthly issues. "No wonder Cloud hasn't been around lately." he said quietly to himself.

"Do you want me to throw that envelope away?" Tifa asked him a little while later. She knew how Marlene felt, now she wondered how Reno felt about his 'secret admirer'.

"No!" Reno snapped, putting his hand over the pocket they were in, then relaxed. "Sorry Tifa, but it's classified information." he said with a contented smirk.

Tifa slowly walked up the stairs to her place. Going down the hallway to Marlene's room, she lightly knocked on the door.

"Come in." Marlene said.

Quietly closing the door behind her, Tifa took another deep breath before she said what she came to say.

"You won't tell Uncle Cloud, will you?" Marlene asked when she was done.

"No. Not until you want me to." Tifa promised her, then left to get some much needed sleep.

"Are you okay?" Cloud asked her when she finally got into bed. "Clara said you needed to lie down for a while."

"It was nothing." Tifa said, hoping she would get some peace from the turmoil she felt from agreeing to help Marlene in snagging Reno. Snuggling closer to her husband, Tifa shut her eyes and hoped things would make more sense in the morning and the days to come.


	5. Chapter 5

"This is what Elena gave you about what to write to him?" Tifa asked Marlene. She was trying to not treat Marlene like a child anymore, but the list Elena gave Marlene bothered her. At least there was no S&M or bondage stuff on it. The only justification Tifa came up with for her decision to help Marlene is that she'd be able to help Marlene through the disappointment that she was sure to get from Reno.

"Yeah." Marlene said as she started downloading the latest assignments for her college classes onto her laptop..

"Has he responded to any of your letters?" Tifa gave the list back to Marlene.

"No, I told him not to." Marlene offhandedly explained as she was writing down what books she needed to check out from the library.

"Well, he's going to have to if you want to find out how he feels about his secret admirer. Just sending him porn won't help him fall in love with you. I'll write the next letter for you." Tifa stated.

"Aunt Tifa…" Marlene started to protest until she saw the expression on her honorary aunt's face.

"Don't you _Aunt Tifa_ me, young lady! And don't worry, I'll let you read it before it gets delivered." Tifa reassured her.

Reno opened the latest message from his secret admirer with a huge sense of relief. He hadn't gotten anything from her in a while. He noticed that tone seemed different, but it was still hot.

 _Dear Big Red Turk,_

 _I hope you are well, I'm sorry I haven't written you in a while. I've been thinking about you while I was grocery shopping and had to buy whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and honey. I couldn't help but wonder which of those you would want to lick off my breasts. Or would you rather lick it off my thighs, working your way up and making my body cry out with its need to feel you inside me, until I cry out for real? Please let me know by writing back to me. I have a box at the Cetra St. post office, #777 under the name Bertha B. Bumchuckle(no, that's not my real name)._

 _Faithfully awaiting your reply,_

 _Your Secret Admirer_

Reno was ecstatic that she finally let him write back to her. When he got home from the bar, he had to search for half an hour before he finally found some paper and was up til 3am writing what he felt expressed his feelings about her.

"What's the whipped cream for?" Cloud asked when he found Tifa waiting up for him in bed that night.

"You won't find out til you get into bed with me." Tifa said with an unusual smile on her face that Cloud had only seen before on special occasions, and he hurriedly undressed and just about jumped into bed with her.

"Would you taste-test this for me?" Marlene asked Reno, coming out of the bar's kitchen with a casserole dish.

"What is it?" Reno asked dubiously, wondering why she singled him out as a culinary guinea pig.

"Food." Marlene replied, handing him a fork. "I'm taking a cooking class as an elective and I need an objective opinion." That was true, but this particular dish had been recommended by both Elena and Tifa. Elena got the information from Reno's file, and Tifa had heard Reno mention it before in drunken stupors.

Reno wanted to refuse, but he knew stubbornness when he saw it. He shouldn't be surprised, given who her adopted/surrogate family was. Making a face, he sulkily grabbed the fork and took a reluctant bite. "Hey, this is…"

"Florentine casserole. Is it alright? My teacher said it was one of those dishes that can easily go wrong." Marlene said.

"My grandmother Adelaide used to make this when…" Reno stopped suddenly.

"When what?" she asked.

"Nothing." He liked talking to Marlene, but he didn't like getting personal with anyone. His life before the Turks was better left as if it didn't exist, even if his grandmother was the only relative who ever gave a damn about him, right up until the day a drunk driver ran her over. That's why Reno only went to bars he could walk to from his place or whatever hotel he was staying at on Turk business. "I'll see you around, Marlene." Reno stood up.

"Wait, do you want to take some of this home with you?" Marlene offered.

Reno paused for a moment. He hated reminders of his past, but he hadn't had Florentine casserole in so long…"Okay, fine." Reno tried to act like he was doing Marlene a great favor rather than being sentimental.

When Marlene went to her room after her shift, she found that Tifa had left her a letter addressed to Bertha on her pillow. It must be from Reno! Opening it, she tried to control her dismay as she read his reply. His writing skills were…Marlene sat down with a **thump** on her bed as she tried to think positively about his reply.

 _Dear Bertha,_

 _I'm glad that's not your real name. I wrote three poems for you, they're kinda short cause I work alot:_

 _There's a woman named Bertha_

 _I hope she doesn't have a lot of girtha_

 _She's hotter than fuck_

 _And that's exactly what I wanna do to her_

 _Whipped cream and chocolate sauce_

 _Are not only for sundaes_

 _I'd lick them off my Bertha's fine ass_

 _On any day of the week_

 _Screw using honey for tea_

 _I'd pour it on my Bertha's teats and thighs_

 _And she'd be so happy I'm_ _ **her**_ _honey_

 _As I fuck her into next Tuesday_

 _P.S. Do you like pizza?_

Tifa turned away so Marlene couldn't see the expression on her face when Marlene showed it to her later that night. It took everything in her not to burst out laughing.

"What am I gonna do, Aunt Tifa? Those poems are embarrassing!" Marlene exclaimed, throwing herself down on her bed.

"Don't be so hard on Reno." Tifa said, not to happy to find herself defending Reno, but she felt it had to be done. "Your Uncle Cloud probably wouldn't write much better, and that's why I never asked him to write me love letters. So he has no literary talent, so what? That wasn't why you love him, is it? Because if you don't love who he really is, you should just end it now." With that, Tifa left Marlene's room.


	6. Chapter 6

"Hey Marlene, would you mind if I wanted to invite someone as my date to your party next week?" Reno asked her four months later as she was cleaning the bar.

"Oh, you have a girlfriend?" Marlene replied casually, though she had an idea whom he meant. She had gotten over her disappointment in his lack of literary skills, because Aunt Tifa had been right, it wasn't his literary ability that caused her to fall in love with him.

"I…I don't know." Reno admitted. Marlene and Bertha were the only two women in the world that he felt he could trust. Marlene was a sweet kid who would always give him a to-go bag of one of his favorite foods, and Bertha was the sexiest lady.

"Well, if you want, lemme find you an extra invitation, I'll stick it in your bag when you're ready to go." Marlene promised.

"Thanks." Reno said, smiling at her while he finished his drink.

A couple hours later, Marlene handed him the to-go bag with the invitation to her double celebration for not only graduating high school, but her eighteenth birthday as well. Tifa had agreed to a masquerade ball to help Marlene out with her plans. "Here you go, Reno, invitation is in there as promised."

"You're a great kid, Marlene." Reno told her.

She had long since learned to not be upset when he called her a kid, he'd learn otherwise soon enough. "You're not so bad yourself, Reno." Marlene stood up on tiptoes and kissed his cheek before casually going back into the bar's kitchen to finish the dishes.

Reno stood there for a moment, putting his hand on his cheek, unaware his face was turning as red as his hair. He got a hold of himself and headed home to write a letter to Bertha.

"Are you ready for this?" Tifa asked Marlene while helping her with her first costume for the masquerade ball.

"Yes." Marlene said a bit too intensely, trying to cover the slight anxiousness she felt about how Reno would react to the news.

Reno wasn't enjoying Marlene's party too much, because Bertha had agreed that they could meet at a masquerade ball, and told him what costume she would be wearing, but he hadn't seen her yet. He was worried he was going to be horribly disappointed by her not showing up, or she did show up but wasn't anything like her letters made her out to be. He stayed by the punch bowl, glad he had his flask with him to add to his cup to calm his nerves. Tifa had done a good job with decorating the bar for this party at least.

"Where's your girlfriend?" Marlene asked him, suddenly appearing at his side.

"I'll let you know when I do." Reno replied, taking another drink. "Oh, and happy birthday and graduation." He handed her a fat envelope, slightly distracted by her outfit. Objectively he knew she wasn't a kid anymore, but it felt weird to see her subtly displaying her grown-up body.

"Thanks, Reno. I hope your girlfriend shows up soon." Marlene left to go put his gift on the table with all the others, then disappeared as she mingled with all the other costumed people.

A few minutes later, he was startled by a tap on the shoulder. Turning around, he was happily surprised to see his guest. "Bertha! You made it!" Reno smiled.

Bertha nodded, then pulled him over to the dance floor. Reno was a bit upset her face was covered by a mask, but her body was quite to his liking, even if she had an evening gown that didn't show much skin. Something tugged at his memory, but he was too distracted by finally meeting his secret admirer of the past year, and getting his hands on her while dancing.

"Okay, time to open the presents. Where's Marlene?" Tifa called out into the crowd.

Reno looked around for her like everyone else, and then suddenly realized Bertha had disappeared. He started looking around for her instead.

"I'm here, Aunt Tifa!" Marlene announced, hurrying to the gift table. She kept an eye on Reno, looking for Bertha. Trying to not appear ungrateful or rushed, she opened all her presents as fast as she could, properly thanking everyone, then went to the bathroom and put her ball gown back on.

Bertha showed up back at Reno's side, much to his relief. "You want to dance more?" he asked, and Bertha shook her head.

"How come you're not talking to me?" Reno wondered. "Are you medically mute or something?"

Bertha shook her head again with a smile, then pulled Reno into the center of the room where everyone was dancing. Then she shocked him by taking off her mask and what he didn't know was a wig.

"Marlene!" Reno felt his world turn upside down. "What's going on here?" He demanded to know, unaware that everyone was suddenly staring at them.

She smiled. "I'm giving myself a present, that's what." Marlene further shocked Reno by passionately kissing him in front of everyone.


	7. Chapter 7

Most of the guests just stared at Marlene and Reno, with the exception of Elena and Tifa. Elena felt like cheering Marlene on, but she was distracted by the amusement of seeing Rude's mouth fall open and his eyes widen. Tifa was distracted by her husband as well, but by his angry reaction. Cloud went to reach for his Buster sword, but he didn't have it with him because it was Marlene's party.

"No, Cloud!" Tifa whispered sternly to him as she grabbed his other arm. "Marlene's a grown woman now, don't spoil this for her."

"Did you know about this?" Cloud asked his wife in surprise.

Tifa was saved from answering by Barret's reaction distracting both of them. His weapon was part of him, so he didn't have Cloud's problem. As Reno's shock started to wear off thanks to Marlene's advances and he started to return them, Barret stormed over to them, pointing his gun arm at Reno.

" **GET YER FILTHY PERVERTED HANDS OFF MY DAUGHTER OR I'LL TAKE 'EM OFF FOR YOU**!" Barret yelled.

"Don't you dare, Daddy!" Marlene snapped back at him as she let go of Reno and stood between him and her father.

"Stay out of this, Marlene, this is between me and him. He's got no business taking advantage of you!" Barret told her.

"He's never taken advantage of me, in fact until tonight he's never touched me. And I love him!" Marlene announced, glaring at her father.

" **WHAT**?!" Barret, Reno, and Cloud exclaimed together.

"I love him." Marlene stated to everyone. "And I'm an adult now so I don't need your permission."

"Did you know about this?" Rude asked Elena, who nodded and then told her husband to be quiet so she wouldn't miss anything that was said. She was recording it all with her camera phone, and was somewhat disappointed that Reno passed out at Marlene's declaration of love.

"Alright, party's over, everyone get the hell out." Cloud raised his voice to be heard by everyone. "Oh, and don't forget your party favors!" He indicated the table filled with goodie bags.

Rude and Elena took the still unconscious Reno home, and Denzel and his girlfriend left as well, Denzel feeling a bit sad that his adoptive family can't even have a birthday/graduation party without over-the-top drama. Barret, Cloud, Tifa, and Marlene went into Tifa's office after the guests were all gone.

"I need someone to tell me what the hell is going on before I start shooting!" Barret ranted, storming around the room.

"And I need my wife to tell me how much she knew about this!" Cloud added. "You did know, didn't you?" he angrily asked Tifa. "What is wrong with you? You've seen Reno in action here at your bar for how many years? What were you thinking?!"

Tifa stood up from her office chair. "I was thinking that Marlene is old enough and mature enough to know what she wants, so don't you DARE start with me Cloud." Tifa snapped back just as angrily, flexing her fists. "She can marry whoever she wants!"

" **Marry**?!" Cloud and Barret yelled.

"Yes, marry. I love Reno. I think I always have. Leave Aunt Tifa out of this!" Marlene stared hard at Barret and Cloud.

"That's it, I'm taking you home until you get over this nonsense." Barret said, trying to grab Marlene's arm, but she wrenched it away from him. "Marrying a man twenty years older than you…over my dead body!"

"I don't need your permission anymore! If you or Cloud won't walk me down the aisle, then I'll just elope with Reno!" Marlene blurted out.

" **Enough**!" Tifa brought her fists down on her desk. "Everyone, calm down! All I did to help Marlene was to get her a post office box to communicate with Reno over the past year. He didn't know it was her, he just knew her as a secret admirer, than as Bertha B. Bumchuckle-"

"Oh God, Tifa, no you didn't…" Cloud's sense of the ridiculous overcame his outrage and he started laughing. "If Reno or the real Bertha knew…"

"There is a real Bertha B. Bumchuckle?" Marlene asked in surprise.

"Will someone tell me what the hell is going on and who I'm supposed to be angry at?" Barret demanded to know.

"You're not supposed to be angry at anyone, unless Reno won't give up his bachelorhood to marry Marlene, thereby breaking her heart." Tifa told him. "I agreed to the masquerade ball theme for tonight so Marlene could reveal herself to Reno as his secret admirer of the past year."

"He'll marry me!" Marlene declared, though she inwardly winced when Tifa mentioned Reno breaking her heart by refusing to marry her. He just found out she loved him, and she wasn't there to explain everything to him.

"I don't know when he'll wake up." Rude told Elena as he joined her on the couch to watch their late night talk shows. "You knew what Marlene was going to do, why didn't you tell me?"

"Because it was Marlene's secret to divulge, not mine. She wants to marry Reno." Elena informed her husband.

"Marriage? Reno? And little Marlene?" Rude was stunned.

"She's not so little anymore, in case you weren't paying attention to this being her eighteenth birthday. She's been in love with him since she was fourteen. That's when she came to me for help for inside info on Reno." Elena replied.

Rude didn't know what to say to that, and they watched the TV in silence until they heard noise in their guest bedroom, and got up to find Reno coming to.

"What happened?" Reno asked groggily.

"Marlene made out with you in front of everyone at her party because she was Bertha all along, Barret tried to shoot you, and Marlene forbid it because she loves you and wants to be your wife." Elena couldn't resist saying that with a smirk.

Reno stared at her. "How could I be her wife?" he mistakenly asked in shock. Flashes of the party ran through his head when Marlene revealed herself to be his secret admirer, and he passed out again.


	8. Chapter 8

Marlene carried the first box of her belongings to her college dorm room. She had qualified for two scholarships which allowed her to afford living on campus. The summer had not been as fun as she had hoped. She hadn't heard from Reno since her party, and Tifa had told her he hadn't been back to the bar either. Elena told her Reno was just being a big baby and would eventually get over the shock. Marlene was trying to be positive, but she was hurt and lonely.

Putting her box in her room, she closed the door and hurriedly put the contents away. Her private room wasn't that big, so she wanted to get things put away as she brought them up. She hoped to spend all her time in here studying, so she left most of her things at Tifa or Barret's, only bringing the necessities. She tried to cheer herself up by her plan to graduate in two years by having a heavy class load. Marlene didn't want to have time to wonder what Reno was doing.

"How long are you going to let him get away with this nonsense?" Elena asked Rude that night in the privacy of their own bedroom.

"He was lied to, he's got a right to be upset." Rude said, upset himself that somehow he ended up in the middle of some kind of argument between his wife and his best friend.

"Oh, she just used a fake name to get the job done. We've done that tons of times. And Reno doesn't need to be upset here! He's got his own damned place and Marlene is starting college. He's hiding out like a coward!" Elena went into her bathroom and slammed the door.

Rude sighed and got into bed. He privately agreed that Reno was overreacting, but he was trying to be neutral and not overtly side with either his wife or Reno. And he didn't think it was cowardice on Reno's part, it was stubbornly refusing to admit that not only was he not the 'Playboy of Midgar' anymore, but that he did in fact have feelings for Marlene/Bertha. Marriage wasn't as bad as Reno thought it would be, but it was pointless to try and convince him of that.

Reno sat on Rude and Elena's couch, only half-watching the TV. He had heard their argument, and was trying to ignore it. Being called a coward by Elena cut the worst, given that he had rescued her from dangerous situations more times than he could count. And Rude was closer to the truth than he knew…Reno wasn't hanging out at their place to hide out, he did it because coming home to an empty apartment was unacceptable to him now. He had quit going to Tifa's bar, and he missed seeing Marlene there, always ready with a smile for him and a take-home meal. He didn't even have the letters to look forward to anymore. The hardest thing for him to swallow in all this mess was that someone as innocent as he had thought Marlene was could write such explicit letters. And she actually said she loved him. Reno shook his head…he was getting nowhere fast. He stood up and left their house, heading for Mommy Fortuna's again. She had been somewhat right about a younger woman, maybe she could advise him on what to do now…something had to change.

"Should I move to a new apartment or leave town altogether?" Reno asked Mommy Fortuna as soon as he walked in her door.

"Sit down and pay me if you want to know." the fortune teller replied, rather offended by his rudeness. And she knew it was him who had pissed on her door. But she'd make him pay for that eventually.

"Here ya go." Reno handed her a twenty with ill grace.

"It's twenty-five now." she explained.

"Five more? Fine!" Reno sulkily handed her the rest of the money.

"Give me your hand." Studying his palm intently, she looked up at him moments later. "I think what you should do is turn around."

Marlene had been walking to 7th Heaven to try and get herself tired enough to sleep. The dorm was so loud, it was hard for her to get to sleep there. Looking around at her surroundings, she saw Mommy Fortuna's shop and hadn't remembered seeing it before. Curious, she walked over and her heart leapt when she was a familiar red-headed lanky figure inside. Quickly opening the door and standing behind Reno, she was trying to figure out what to say to him when Mommy Fortuna spotted her and told him to turn around.

"Marlene!" Reno exclaimed in surprise. Something about her was different, and finally he realized it was the first time in four years she hadn't smiled at him right away, and that bothered him worse than Elena's comments.

"Hello, Reno." she said.

"Uh, how's college going?" he asked her awkwardly.

Marlene almost smiled then. "Take me out for coffee and I'll tell you."


	9. Chapter 9

They found a little donut shop that was open late, and while Marlene cleaned the dirty table for them to sit at, Reno ordered their coffee and three donuts for himself.

"So… you said you'd tell me how college is going?" Reno half-mumbled as he tried to talk and eat his first donut at the same time.

"I start classes tomorrow. If I do twenty credits most of the year, and ten credits in the summer while I'm working at 7th Heaven, I'll be able to graduate in time for my 20th birthday." Marlene sipped her coffee. "This isn't decaffeinated!"

"That word isn't in my vocabulary." Reno said in a superior tone, moving on to the second donut. "Coffee is supposed to be a pick-me-up, not a downer. Might as well have nonalcoholic scotch!" Reno drank some of his coffee before eating his last donut. "You said…Elena thinks…did you try and get me killed at your party because you want to marry me?"

"I've always wanted to marry the man I love." Marlene replied when she got back from asking the lone employee for decaffeinated coffee.

Reno frowned. "You actually think you're in love with me?"

"I don't **think** I am, I **know** I am." Marlene stated.

Reno shoved the last bite of donut in his mouth while he tried to figure out what to say next, and Marlene couldn't help but laugh. He had custard filling, powdered sugar, and jelly filling all around his mouth, making him look like a clown. "What's so funny?" he asked in surprise.

Trying to control herself, she grabbed a napkin and started wiping his mouth. "You sure are a sloppy eater." Marlene managed to get out.

"So what? I'm not sloppy at everything." Reno countered, and he leaned closer, about to kiss her to prove it, when the employee told them it was closing time and they had to leave.

"I better get back to my dorm, I start classes at eight tomorrow morning." Marlene stood up and drank the last of her coffee.

"I'll walk with you." Reno offered. This late at night he didn't think it was safe for her to walk by herself, but he knew better than to say that. She was Tifa's daughter in all the ways that counted.

Marlene smiled when he said that. "So is it marriage or just me you object to?" she asked him as they walked through the sleepy city.

"Huh?" Reno suddenly felt naked, and not in a good way. How did someone twenty years his junior get him off his game easily? "I don't…I mean it's not that I…uh…you're okay, it's just-"

"I'm only just okay?" Marlene persisted. "You thought Bertha was more than okay, didn't you?"

"Well, yeah, but she…you…is this your dorm?" Reno needed any excuse to stop talking.

"Yeah, come on up." Marlene grabbed his hand and led him up the stairs. When they got to her door, one of the other dorm residents poked their head out.

"Hey Marlene, I thought you were an orphan. How come your dad's here?" The other student was obviously either drunk or stoned, maybe both.

"Dad?!" Reno was outraged, and took a step towards the student to avenge the insult about his age, since he didn't look that old yet, but Marlene wouldn't let go of his hand.

"Dads always wear suits." the student replied, referring to Reno's Turk uniform.

Marlene got an impish grin on her face. "Oh, he's not my daddy, Ron, he's my _sugar_ daddy."

" **What**?!" the word burst of Reno, but he didn't get a chance to say anything more, because Marlene impulsively kissed him just like she did at her party, then abruptly released him and stepped inside her room.

"Thanks for walking me home after our date, _Daddy_. Good night." Marlene closed the door on a stunned red-faced Reno.


	10. Chapter 10

Reno got back to his apartment and instantly realized something was wrong. On alert, he cautiously entered, keeping one hand on his rod, ready to spring into action. "Who's there?" he called out as he made his way to his weapons chest, trying to stay in the shadows and against the walls so he could only be attacked on one side. He heard a slight noise and felt a rush of air as his only warning. Grabbing his rod, he moved quickly to the side as he activated the taser to disable the person coming towards him with some kind of multi-edged metal weapon, the metal reflecting what light was available. Once they were on the ground, he flipped the light switch on. "Yuffie!"

"Glad to see you haven't lost your edge." she said when she could talk again, rejecting the hand up Reno offered her.

"What are you doing in my apartment? What would Tseng say?" Reno smirked at his former sparring partner and occasional lover.

"Tseng is why I'm here. My husband and I decided you'd be best for a long-term mission the W.R.O. needs done." Yuffie ignored the innuendo, used to Reno's behavior. He had been fun, but that was a long time ago.

"Since when does the W.R.O. interfere with the Turks?" Reno asked as he went into his kitchen and poured himself a drink.

"Since I'm head of military intelligence for W.R.O. and your boss is my husband, it's whenever we feel like it." Yuffie replied, and put a folder down on his kitchen counter. "That contains all the information you'll need. You and Cid leave at 0600."

"Cid?" Reno was surprised.

"Yeah, his airship is better suited for this mission than your helicopter." Yuffie informed him before she left.

Marlene crawled into bed, exhausted. Her heavy class load was harder than she thought it would be, and sometimes she had to struggle with assignments late into the night to keep up. Her stunt with Reno in front of Ron had an unexpected effect, when word got around that studious Marlene's sugar daddy was none other than the second-in-command of the illustrious and sometimes infamous Turks, she found that she quit getting bothered by the male student body for dates. She was worried about Reno, she had been told by Elena that he was on a long-term mission, but she couldn't tell Marlene anymore than that. If anything happened to Reno, Marlene didn't know what she'd do. She was making progress on him, she was sure of that, she just needed more time, and her parents never got that, any more than Denzel's parents did. She fell into an uneasy sleep praying that he was safe.

"Want some coffee?" Cid asked Reno.

"You bet your ass I do!" Reno really didn't mind spending a few months doing reconnaissance in remote areas all over the planet with Cid, he liked the gruff man's frequent crudeness.

"So how's Marlene?" Cid handed Reno a steaming mug a few minutes later.

"Marlene?" Reno nearly burned himself as the hot liquid started to slosh over the side of the mug. He managed to save his hand, but cursed the loss of the coffee that spilled onto the floor.

"Yeah, Shera and I saw her with you at her graduation/birthday party. You're a lucky man!" Cid explained.

"I'm not with her. I had no idea she was going to do that." Reno told him.

"Why aren't you taking her up on her offer? She's grown up into a sweet piece of ass-and don't you ever tell Shera I said that-she's smart, young, and she obviously wants you. What's not to like?" Cid took a gulp of his own coffee.

"She wants to marry me." he explained.

"And? What's wrong with marriage?" Cid wanted to know.

"I like my freedom." was Reno's response.

"I've been married for a damned long time, and I've got my freedom. I'm here on this mission, aren't I? And I've got the best airship in the world. I can go anywhere I want, whenever I want. Having a wife just means I have someone who takes care of me. Shera's the best…I don't know what I'd do without her, and don't tell her I said that either." Cid smiled as he finished his coffee. "Well, we better try and get some shuteye now. Tomorrow is Cactuar Island, and that's gonna be one sticky situation."

Reno went to the bunkroom. Yuffie had been right, Cid's airship was better than his helicopter. It had sleeping rooms, a kitchen galley, and a bathroom for starters. Cid had a sweet set-up with his own captain's quarters too. As Reno laid down on the bunk he had been using, his brain wouldn't quit going over Cid's conversation about Marlene and marriage. Marlene definitely was special, but…Reno fell asleep trying to remember what the good reason he had for not wanting to get married was.


	11. Chapter 11

The airship landed back in Rocket Town on the first day of summer, and as they disembarked, Shera came running over to her husband, throwing herself in his arms. Cid winked at Reno, then kissed Shera in a way that reminded Reno of Marlene.

"You haven't shaved!" Shera exclaimed when they separated, more as an observation than a complaint. "I've got fried chicken and hot wings staying warm in the oven, and we'll deal with your laundry tomorrow." Shera took hold of Cid's hand and started pulling him towards their house. "Oh, your helicopter is over there." Shera informed Reno, gesturing in the right direction, "But you're welcome to eat with us if you want to."

"Thanks, but I need a haircut first, where's the salon?" Reno needed a proper haircut dreadfully. He had tried to keep it around the same length from when the mission started, but it didn't work out too well. He felt like a deranged scarecrow, and barber shops weren't interested in anything beyond straight hair cuts and shaves. Reno's hair demanded special treatment.

"Oh, we don't have one of those damned froufrou salons here in Rocket Town." Cid explained as he and Shera hurried to their house.

Reno sighed and headed to his helicopter, glad to be back in the pilot's seat. He hoped he could get an emergency appointment before he went to 7th Heaven.

It had been such a busy day at the bar that Tifa hadn't paid much attention to the man sitting in a booth all by himself in the corner where he had plenty of privacy. She noticed that he was wearing a hoodie and a baseball cap, which she had always felt was silly. But it was getting near closing time and he needed to leave. Marlene came out then with the grey rubber tub, to get another load of dishes to wash.

"Would you mind asking that guy in the corner to pay up and leave please, Marlene?" Tifa asked her as she was trying to figure out bills for five different customers.

"Sure thing, Aunt Tifa." Marlene went over to the booth. "Excuse me sir, we're not going to be open much longer, would you mind-"

"I'll leave when the hell I want to, so fuck off, bitch!" the customer snapped, glaring at her.

Marlene's lips tightened in anger. "You'll leave now, **buddy**!"

Tifa realized something wasn't right, and hopped the bar to provide security backup, when the man suddenly broke his glass on the table and went to charge Marlene. She had the good sense and reflex to use the rubber tub as a shield, but it wasn't needed. The man dropped to the ground, convulsing, and a familiar boot stomped down on the wrist of the offending hand. Tifa carefully grabbed the broken glass away as Marlene lowered the tub.

"Reno!" Marlene exclaimed, seeing him standing there with the taser tip of his rod still sparking as he glared down at the drunken patron.

"Are you okay, Marlene?" he asked as Tifa punched out the man before calling the police.

"Yeah." she replied. "I better get back to work." Marlene went to the next booth and put the dirty glasses in the tub, but Reno and Tifa both noticed her hand was shaking a little.

When the bar closed a little while later, Marlene wasn't that surprised that Reno was still there. "You want to go out for some coffee?" he asked her.

"Okay." Marlene knew she wouldn't be able to sleep yet anyway, she was too keyed up from his reappearance and the attempted attack on her.

Reno once again ordered three donuts, but this time got her decaffeinated coffee. "Here ya go."

"Three donuts again? Do you always eat like this?" she asked him.

"Hey, you're the one who went around telling everyone I'm your sugar daddy. So I need some sugar." Reno retorted.

"I didn't tell everyone, I told one person, but they told everyone they knew, who told everyone they knew." Marlene explained. "How was your mission?"

"Long, and that's all I can tell you." Reno devoured his first donut. "I missed real food!"

"I can make you real food next weekend if you want." Marlene sipped her coffee.

Reno mumbled an okay as he downed his second donut in between gulps of coffee. "You want to do it at my place? It's not that far from here if you wanna see it."

"I'd like to see your place." Marlene admitted.

"I don't know if the kitchen stuff works, I've never used it except the microwave and the coffee maker." Reno said as he opened his door and flipped the lights on.

"This is a gourmet kitchen!" Marlene exclaimed as she went straight to it, though she took in everything in his place as she walked. It looked rather sparse and impersonal, like those house showings that are meant to just showcase the possibilities, not show that someone actually lived there.

By the time she was done checking everything out, it was quite late. "Do you wanna stay the night?" Reno asked her, curious as to what she would say.

That impish grin returned to her face. "Nice try. Not gonna happen without a wedding ring and a marriage license."

"You mean you've never…but what about Bertha?" Reno just stood there, staring at her in amazement.

"I had some help." she admitted.

Reno was about to ask from who, but then realized he didn't want to know. "Well it is late, what about just sleeping on the couch? I promise not to bother you."

Marlene looked appraisingly at him. "I don't think I could walk all the way home again, so I'll sleep on the couch if you keep your promise. If you don't, there's always 'romantic face-punching'."

Reno went to find a blanket for Marlene, and found her already curled up and half-asleep on his couch. He gently spread the blanket over her and she pulled it tightly around her.

"I love you." Marlene sleepily murmured.

"Love you too." Reno said before he realized it. He hurriedly went and turned off the lights so no one could see his red face.


	12. Chapter 12

Reno couldn't get to sleep in his own bed that night, half due to having slept on a bunk in an airship for the past few months, and half due to embarrassment. He felt stupid for having told Marlene he loved her after inviting her to his place in a moment of weakness. Seeing her nearly assaulted had freaked him out in ways he didn't expect. Reno had never invited any of his countless lovers into his private sanctuary, he didn't like anyone intruding on his space. That reminded him to check on her. Marlene was still asleep on the couch, but the blanket had fallen off her, so he put it back on her, then sat down in his favorite chair that he felt was basically nothing but a pillow with armrests and legs, watching Marlene sleep.

"She's pretty, isn't she?" a female voice said.

"Yeah she is…hey…who's there?" Reno went on full alert.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you. I'm glad you're watching over her." Aerith slowly materialized in the room, and put a hand on Marlene. "I've always watched over her too, just like you had someone watching over you."

"Who the hell ever watched out for me?" Reno demanded as Aerith turned her head to the side where another figure started materializing. "Grandma Addy!"

"You watch your mouth, young man! I taught you better than that!" Adelaide shook her finger at him.

Reno stared at his beloved grandmother who took him in when his parents abandoned him at age four. She had taught him about having a positive attitude, but after she was killed, all the other things she had taught him about proper behavior went out the window, when he ended up on the streets and his twelve year old self didn't worry about anything other than survival. "That was a long time ago." Reno managed to say as he felt overwhelmed by seeing her again.

"Yes, it was a long time ago. Why do you try to keep fighting your feelings for this girl? Are you afraid?" Adelaide asked him.

"What? Who said I was afraid?" Reno was seriously offended. "I'm a Turk, I don't have to be afraid of anything!"

"She's a wonderful girl who has loved you for years. If you're not afraid, why can't you marry her?" Adelaide persisted.

"Afraid of what?" Marlene asked, her voice sounding weird.

Reno jerked awake to Marlene staring at him. Aerith and his grandmother were gone, and it hurt to have her leave him again. "Nothing." he tried to say casually. "Don't you have classes this morning?"

"Not for about six more hours." Marlene wondered what his problem was. "It's still the middle of the night.

"Okay, then it's back to bed for me." Reno got up and left her staring after him. He buried his head in his pillows once he flopped back into bed, hoping it'd block out having other people tell him what to do.

He woke up to the smell of food, and went to his kitchen to find Marlene busy at work. She tentatively smiled at him, hoping he was feeling better now. "Class was cancelled, so I thought I'd make breakfast. You don't have much food, so I did the best I could." she explained.

"I'm hardly ever home. Don't need to cook. If I can't microwave it or eat it out of the box or can, why bother?" Reno shrugged, then watched her cook. He wasn't too comfortable with how she managed to make such a good breakfast out of the crap he kept as food. It reminded him of his grandmother always making good meals of the meager scraps they were able to afford or grow. Her obvious approval of Marlene shouldn't have surprised him.

Marlene wasn't used to Reno being so quiet, and it made her wonder if she made a mistake staying overnight with him. "I better get back to my dorm so I can get ready for my other class I have before my shift at the bar." she said when they were done eating.

Reno wondered what her problem was as she left in a rush. _You idiot, you do care about her, why are you being so stubborn and giving her an opportunity to find someone else? You want to be a stupid loser or something_!? "I'll take care of this in my own way!" Reno realized he was arguing with himself and left his apartment in a rush as well to head to work where he could quit feeling like a fool.

"Are you okay?" Tifa asked Marlene halfway through her shift.

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine, just didn't get much sleep last night." Marlene replied, though she was upset by Reno not showing up at 7th Heaven again.

"Don't worry about that ass from last night. He won't see the light of day for a very long time. There's an advantage to having the right connections." Tifa told her. "Oh, but I don't want you walking home by yourself tonight. You can stay in your old room upstairs if you want."

"I'll take her back to her dorm on Fenrir." Cloud said, coming out of the men's bathroom. He had been as willing as Reno to wreak violence on the man who tried to hurt Marlene, and had decided he needed to hang out more at the bar to prevent a reoccurrence. "Problem solved."

"Thanks, Uncle Cloud." Marlene wanted to get more studying done. She had a lighter class load in the summer, but she wanted to be ready for her last year.

"Anytime." Cloud went upstairs to polish the Buster sword. He planned to go fully armed anytime he took her home.

"You don't have to walk me to my door. The other students are afraid to bother me." Marlene told Cloud when he drove her back to her dorm. He had done it every night for a week.

"Why are they afraid of you?" Cloud was glad to hear she was safe, but it seemed odd to him.

"It's not me they're afraid of. It's having the second-in-command of the Turks as my sugar daddy that scares them." she confessed.

" **What**?" Cloud's hand automatically went to grasp the hilt of the Buster sword. "I'll dismem-"

"Don't worry Uncle Cloud, it's not true. But don't tell anyone, it's proved useful." Marlene whispered before kissing him on the cheek. "Now go home and take care of Aunt Tifa." She hurried into the building, but Cloud didn't leave until he saw her room light go on.

Turning her light on was all she was able to do before she slipped on something on the floor and grabbed onto her desk to keep from falling. Once her balance was steady, Marlene looked on the floor and saw an envelope. Grabbing it, she recognized Reno's handwriting. Hopeful, she opened it and was a bit let down as she read it.

 _The Big Red Turk has a kitchen full of dirty dishes and wants Bertha to fix the problem. Her presence is expected at 2pm tomorrow._

At least he knew enough to 'ask' her to be there when she was free. And she had left his place without cleaning up after cooking, so he did have a point in wanting her to clean up, since he hadn't asked her to make breakfast, she did it on her own.

Marlene was at Reno's door precisely at 2pm, and was surprised when there was an envelope taped to the door. She opened it and found a key inside, which unlocked his door.

"Reno?" she called out, but there was no answer. Wondering why he wasn't there, she cautiously closed the door behind her and locked it, then turned the lights on. Going to the kitchen, it looked like he hadn't touched anything since she had cooked. Was he really this much of a slob? Sighing, she started filling up the sink with hot water, but when she went to squirt some of the dish soap into it, nothing came out. Marlene was surprised because the bottle was almost full. And judging by the date on it, it was three years old. Noticing the hole in the lid wasn't clogged, she twisted the lid off and gasped when she turned it upside to look at it. There was a ring stuck inside, and when she pried it out, she saw that it had an exquisite cairngorm surrounded by diamonds. "It's beautiful!" she breathed.

"Glad you like it." Reno said, startling her. He was leaning casually against the refrigerator, smiling at her. "You can't wear it til you ask me, though."

"Will you put out til you pass out on our wedding night?" Marlene's eyes twinkled.

"That's the best proposal I ever heard!" Reno exclaimed. "If those are the terms, I accept."

Marlene shoved the ring on her finger and then threw herself at Reno. He did feel something as they kissed, but he drew back a few moments later. "You're still gonna finish the dishes, right?"


	13. Chapter 13

The only time Marlene frowned the rest of that day was having to take her ring off to wash dishes, first at Reno's, then at 7th Heaven. She couldn't help but smile the rest of the time, which didn't escape Tifa's notice.

"You must be doing really good at school." Tifa remarked as they were closing up for the night.

"Huh? Oh, I am." Marlene replied.

"Here are your tips." Tifa handed her a fat envelope.

"Tips?" Marlene would occasionally get money here and there from bussing tables, but this was unexpected as she looked in the envelope at all the money.

"You've been glowing all night and the customers liked it." Tifa explained.

"That's not about school." Marlene confessed as she reached into her pocket and put her engagement ring back on, showing it off.

Tifa gasped. "Did…Reno…" She suddenly had a hard time talking.

"Well, sorta, he gave me the ring, but I asked him." Marlene beamed.

"What about your degrees?" Tifa asked.

"Oh, don't worry, Aunt Tifa, I'm not getting married til I graduate." Marlene reassured her.

"That's good to know." Tifa took a deep breath. "But do me a favor, let me be the one to tell your father and Uncle Cloud, okay?"

Marlene's happiness dimmed a little. "They still don't approve of Reno?"

"They probably wouldn't totally approve of anyone you were marrying." Tifa admitted. "Don't worry about it. What are your plans for the wedding?"

"Actually, I was hoping you'd plan that for me. I won't have time with my classload." Marlene smiled hopefully at her.

Tifa sighed. She had always hoped that Marlene would have a fairy tale wedding, and the work involved in planning that sounded like a good way to distract her from the fact that Marlene was marrying Reno. She knew Marlene would eventually succeed with him, but Cloud and Barret had been hoping she would find someone else her own age at college. "I can do that." Tifa managed a smile and hugged Marlene.

"Thanks, Aunt Tifa! I better get back to my dorm now." Marlene gratefully hugged her back.

"Okay, I'm ready." Cloud said, coming downstairs from his and Tifa's apartment as Marlene quickly hid her engagement ring.

Tifa was just getting into bed when Cloud got back from giving Marlene a ride home. "What's up with Marlene? I haven't seen her that happy in years." he asked his wife.

"First things first." Tifa said, pulling Cloud to her. Once she had relaxed him enough, she sprung her news on him. "Oh by the way, Marlene proposed to Reno and he accepted. The wedding will be after she graduates from college."

Cloud froze in shock momentarily. "Please tell me this is your idea of a really, really, bad joke!"

"He bought her a very nice ring." Tifa informed her husband. "But then again, he can afford it. And she wants me to plan the wedding because she'll be too busy with school."

"You told me that she'd get over Reno!" Cloud blurted out.

"No, I told you that Marlene is a sensible girl who will do the right thing. And she is, she's not giving up college." Tifa corrected him.

Cloud didn't say anything else, which was what she expected. _One down, one to go_. Tifa told herself. But she couldn't relax Barret like she could her husband.

"You will not spoil this for Marlene!" Tifa snapped at Barret, standing up from behind her desk. The last half hour had been Barret taking the news rather badly, and she felt herself getting a headache. "She's loved Reno for years, and now she finally got him. You fly off the handle to her or Reno, you're going to break her heart!"

"That's what he's going to do! You know what he's like! Ya told me constantly that he's not much better than a gigolo, they way he's gone through every eligible woman in your bar!" Barret ranted.

"Not for the last few years. He hasn't scored here in a long time.." Tifa said. "Marlene asked me to plan her wedding for her, so she could concentrate on graduating. And if you keep this up, I won't invite you!" She glared at him.

Barret glared back for a moment, then threw his hands up and stormed out. Tifa fell back down into her chair, closing her eyes for a moment, then opening them again as she remembered Yuffie's royalish wedding, and picked up her phone. "Hey, Yuffie, if you're not too busy with Wutaian politics, you want to help me plan Marlene's wedding?" Tifa had to put the phone away from her ear at Yuffie's excited shrieks of surprise and agreement.


	14. Chapter 14

"Glad your flight was on time!" Yuffie exclaimed when she saw Tifa. "The limo is waiting."

Tifa was nervous about being away from her bar, but Cloud promised he'd take care of things with help from her trusted employees, and it was only going to be a two week absence. She let Yuffie drag her off, grateful she was going to have some help, because she did want Marlene to have the best wedding possible.

"This is where we'll be planning everything." Yuffie told her, stopping on the way to Tifa's room at the Wutai Imperial Palace, showing her a huge room with five tables of different sizes.

"Why do we need a room this big?" Tifa wondered aloud.

Yuffie stared at her. "Are you serious? Well, you'll find out starting tomorrow. Let me get you settled in your room, dinner will be in two hours. If you didn't bring anything fancy, I put some stuff in your closet."

Tifa was glad to be left alone for a while once Yuffie left her in her room. Marriage to Tseng and taking more interest in Wutaian politics to help her father hadn't changed Yuffie that much over the years, and Tifa was hoping her friend wasn't planning to steal Marlene's wedding from her.

Rude was already asleep in bed when Elena got home from overseeing the new recruits' basic training. She was tired, but she wasn't ready to sleep yet. Going into her bathroom, she took a quick shower and dried her hair before getting into bed as well.

"How's the training going?" Rude asked her, having been awakened by the noise from her shower.

"Long, boring, and annoying. Feel up to helping me relax?" Elena kissed her husband, stretching herself on top of him and smiling as he responded to her overtures. They'd both been so busy lately, it felt better than usual to have Rude inside her again. She was so caught up in the moment that she didn't notice her phone going off at first.

"Are you going to answer that?" he inquired.

"Answer what?" Elena paused in her motions.

"Your phone." Rude looked towards her nightstand where her phone was buzzing like crazy, about to fall onto the floor.

Elena angrily grabbed her phone. "You have interrupted an orgasm in progress. If you're not already dead or dying, why shouldn't I make you that way?" she all but yelled into the phone. "Oh really? I suppose I can leave in the morning." She hung up the phone and turned it off.

"Who was that?" Rude wanted to know.

"Tifa, I'll be visiting her and Yuffie in the morning. Now…where were we?" Elena kissed him again.

"Well? What'd she say? Why does your face look like that?" Yuffie pestered Tifa.

"She was having sex with Rude when I called. I forgot about the time difference." Tifa explained as the red in her cheeks slowly faded. "But she said she could leave in the morning."

Elena's eyes widened as she walked into the planning room after asking a servant for the whereabouts of Yuffie and Tifa. Three of the five tables were covered with wedding magazines, some with pages torn out. The fourth table was covered with wedding invitation samples, and the fifth was the largest, with Yuffie and Tifa looking at the torn pages from the magazines all spread out over the table.

"So, we're agreed? Golden chocobos pulling this carriage to take Reno and Marlene from the ceremony to the reception?" Tifa asked, pointing to a picture on one of the torn-out pages. "And the symphony orchestra starts playing to announce their arrival?"

"Golden chocobos? Symphony orchestra? Why don't you just have Reno jump out of his helicopter with a golden parachute as well to arrive at the wedding?" Elena couldn't help but saying, her voice rich with sarcasm.

Yuffie and Tifa gasped, as much as from surprise from Elena's sudden appearance as the idea she presented in jest. "Can he really do that?" their voices chimed together.

"How do you expect to pay for all this?" Elena ignored their question.

"Oh, I have my ways." Yuffie told her. "This wedding is gonna be one to remember for decades to come! But that's kinda why we wanted your help, you're going to be our logistics expert to make sure everything flows smooth from ceremony to reception. This is Marlene's wedding and it must be perfect!"


	15. Chapter 15

"What the hell are you doing?" Reno asked Rude.

"I'm just getting your current measurements." Rude put the tape measure back in his pocket.

"I repeat…what…the… **hell** are you doing?" Waking up while out on a routine surveillance mission to find his partner measuring him didn't make Reno feel too comfortable.

"Elena wants to make sure your tuxedo will fit properly." Rude explained.

"Tuxedo? What for?" Reno was confused.

"For your upcoming wedding, what else?" Rude replied.

"Why do I need a tuxedo? This uniform was good enough for to be your Best Man when you married Elena, wasn't it? And why is she wanting to get me a tuxedo?" Reno was getting upset at the thought of being trussed up like a turducken.

"That's because you're incorrigible, but also because you weren't the groom. And Elena is helping Tifa and Yuffie plan your wedding, that's why." Rude told him.

"I think I like this dress the best." Tifa told Elena and Yuffie. "Marlene would look beautiful in it." She started twirling around in it to see if it would be easy to dance in at the reception. Her wedding had been extremely simple, planned in an afternoon, casual enough to make Cloud feel comfortable. She had always thought of him as her knight, but her fairy tale wedding she had thought of when she made him promise to rescue her had just been another dream that died. She could give Marlene a perfect wedding at least, just not the perfect groom Tifa expected. Stopping in front of the rack of other wedding dress choices, Tifa noticed Reno standing there, obviously seething. Shrieking, she started to shove him back out the door. "How dare you! Don't you know it's bad luck to see the dresses before the wedding? Get out of here!"

Marlene sighed. She was working on her theses and it was hard to concentrate or to have them seem good enough when she did concentrate. This was the last hurdle standing between her and graduation. Then she could marry Reno and live her dream. She had chosen education and child psychology as her majors because she wanted to start an orphanage and help those parentless children to understand and accept it wasn't their fault. She knew she had been luckier than most of her generation that had ended up orphaned by Shinra's machinations. Barret, and later on Tifa and Cloud, they had never failed to make sure she was taken care of. But they never knew that she had realized based on things she had overheard over the years, what her father had become before his death, and for the most part she had come to terms with it. She hadn't told Reno of her plans yet, but based on what she had read in his file that Elena had leaked to her, she felt he would agree.

Marlene had just stood up to make herself more coffee when Reno burst into her dorm. "What the hell are you thinking?" he angrily demanded to know.

"What are you talking about?" Marlene was worried that he was talking about her plans for her future.

"I'm not marrying any of those damned women, so why are they turning the wedding into a stage production?!" Reno continued his rant.

"What women? I only asked Aunt Tifa to plan it so I could concentrate on graduating." Marlene calmly explained.

"Well, you better find out for yourself." Reno's anger started to fade as he realized Marlene didn't know what was going on. "I'll see you later." He walked out before he started to feel embarrassed.

Marlene forgot all about more coffee as she grabbed her cellphone. "Aunt Tifa? Are you busy?"

"Oh, I'm glad you called. We have a few wedding dresses for you to try on, so when can you spare some time to come to Wutai?" Tifa asked her.

"Who's 'we'?" Marlene suddenly felt nervous about what her wedding was turning into.

"Elena, Yuffie, and me." Tifa informed her. "Yuffie is offering you the Imperial Gardens to have the wedding at."

"Um, I'll get back to you on that, Aunt Tifa. I'm having trouble with finishing my theses." Marlene hurriedly hung up the phone, not as concerned with her theses as she let on anymore, she was trying to figure out how to get Tifa to stop whatever madness she was involved in.

He wasn't expecting any visitors, so the knock on the door surprised him, but not as much as seeing Marlene standing in front of it when he activated the security monitors. Wondering what on Gaia she would want with him, he left his bitchy wife sleeping in their bed and put his robe on before answering the door. "What can I do for you, Miss Wallace?" he asked.

"It's actually not you I came to see, Mr. Shinra." Marlene replied, trying to get control of her ambiguous feelings about coming here for help.

Rufus raised an eyebrow in response to her statement before turning around and yelling into the bedroom for his wife to get her ass dressed and come to the door. It was a loveless marriage, meant to keep her on the straight and narrow in exchange for the perks of being Mrs. Rufus Shinra.

"What happened to you?" Cloud asked Tifa. He had decided to close the bar down for the weekend so he could visit Wutai to find out why she hadn't come home yet.

"What are you talking about?" Tifa stared at her husband through the veiled tiara she was trying on. "What do you think about this wedding cake?" She led him to a table full of cake slices, and gave him a fork and one of the plates. "Just take a bite and tell me if you like it."

"You're not the bride, Marlene is." Cloud pointed out, just as the door opened and Marlene walked in, looking around in horror. The room looked like every wedding from the last twenty years had exploded in there.

"Aunt Tifa, what have you done?" Marlene managed to get out.

"She's giving you the perfect wedding." Yuffie butted in. "I told her we'd pay for everything, so there's no limitations."

"My perfect wedding is just marrying Reno, I don't care how fancy it is!" Marlene exclaimed. "If you don't stop this, I'm going to have someone else plan my wedding. Isn't that right?" Marlene turned to the woman who had followed her in.

"Sure thing." Scarlet said, looking around in distaste. "Long time, no wanna see you people."

Tifa and Yuffie's jaws dropped, Cloud nearly choked on his bite of wedding cake, and Elena smiled, thinking that Marlene was indeed perfect for Reno.


	16. Chapter 16

"Are you still upset about the wedding?" Cloud asked Tifa as they found seats with a good view of the stage at Marlene's graduation. "It's been two months."

"I don't want to talk about it." Tifa said. "If she doesn't want the culture of a symphony orchestra, that's not my problem."

"She agreed to the gold chocobo-drawn carriage to take her and Reno from the Imperial Gardens to the reception, and to you having mostly a free hand with that, she just wants the wedding itself to be simple. The celebration of their wedding can be as fancy as you want, except for the music and the gifts for all the guests. After all, from what you told me, Marlene's got a lot to celebrate, her years of hard work have finally paid off. Half of that is finished today, she's graduating _summa cum laude_." Cloud reminded her.

Tifa stared at her husband. He rarely talked so much at one time, it was usually one or two sentences. "Please say golden chocobo. Gold chocobo doesn't have the same ring to it."

"Whatever you say." Cloud tried to figure out how to change the subject. "Have you seen Barret yet?"

"He might be late, he was working near Icicle and Reno offered to fly him in. If Barret kills him before they land, he'll be in trouble."

Reno was relieved to see Rude and Elena in the audience, Yuffie and Tseng in the row ahead of them. If Barret wasn't sulking during the flight here, he was making not-so-veiled threats. Reno plopped down next to Rude and Elena while Barret went to join Tifa and Cloud in the next aisle over.

"How was the flight?" Elena smirked as Reno took a swig from the flask that had appeared in his hand.

"It's over, that's what counts." he replied.

"You should be proud of Marlene." Rude told his partner. "Graduating with honors for two degrees isn't easy."

"Yeah, she was studying hard last time I saw her." Reno put his flask back in its hiding spot.

"Last time you saw her? You haven't been keeping in touch?" Elena asked.

"I'm working and she was studying. Books don't interest me." Reno smiled as he thought back to the good ol' days when his only time on a college campus was spent working his way through the sorority houses.

The audience quieted as the ceremony started, until about halfway through Marlene's speech, when a male streaker started running up between the aisles. Reno started laughing along with quite a few other audience members and students as the streaker jumped onstage. Reno's humour faded quickly as the man approached Marlene.

"Hey hot stuff, forget about this summa cum laude crap, how about we try some cum loud instead?" the streaker asked Marlene and grabbed at her robe.

Marlene's hands balled into fists, and all those who had come to see her graduate rushed towards the stage in anger. Reno grabbed his weapon and tasered the streaker before Marlene's punch landed, getting her off-balance, and Reno held her to prevent her falling.

"Anyone **else** have anything to say to my future wife?" Reno demanded of the crowd as he casually put his rod over his shoulder, the sparks still flying from the tip of it. He lightly put his foot on the streaker's neck, allowing for the spasms so he wouldn't kill the ass.

"He's still the fastest Turk." Rude told Elena as Yuffie and Tseng gestured for two plain-clothed W.R.O. peacekeepers to remove the naked man.

"It's okay, Daddy!" Marlene exclaimed when she saw Cloud restraining Barret's gun arm and Tifa was arguing with him. Taking a deep breath, she stepped away from Reno and resumed her place at the podium. "Now that we've seen what happens when you aren't interested in bettering yourself, I would like to finish talking about the accomplishments that allowed us all to be here."

Once everyone was seated again, Marlene finished her speech. Tifa, Cloud, and Barret were most surprised by it. They had never heard her view of the events surrounding their battles against Shinra, Sephiroth, the Remnants, Deepground, and of Aerith's death. She had been so young then, and they had told her Aerith had died, but nothing more than that, always trying to shield her the best they could. Cloud was embarrassed by the way Marlene made him sound more heroic than he remembered being.

"I know how painful it is to think of those we've lost along the way, that's why I believe it's our responsibility to make our future the best it can be, for generations to come." Marlene concluded her speech and calmly resumed her seat.

Tifa dabbed her eyes before standing up and starting the applause, Cloud and Barret right behind her. When the Dean concluded the ceremony and dismissed everyone to the picnic area that had been set up for refreshments, Marlene was grabbed by her family into a group hug.

"You're marrying a great orator." Tseng told his second-in-command, who seemed surprisingly lost in thought as they made their way to Marlene's table. "She could have a great future herself in public relations, if she wanted. Have you discussed how to balance career and family?"

"No, we haven't talked about anything like that." Reno wondered why Marlene was so deadset on marrying him, given his infamous past and what she just said about her beliefs.

"Where did Dad and Uncle Cloud go?" Marlene asked Tifa once everyone else had finished congratulating her on her speech.

"Oh, they probably wanted to get to the front of the line for the free food." Tifa casually replied, catching sight of them in her peripheral vision, heading towards where the streaker who had tried to assault Marlene was being properly arrested.

"That sounds like Dad." Marlene took her cap off and sighed.

"Are you okay?" Tifa was concerned.

"I'm gonna have way more free time now than I'm used to." Marlene explained.

"That's what you think." Yuffie told her. "Your wedding is this weekend, don't forget."

"I would never forget that!" Marlene retorted.

"You better not." Reno sat down next to her, and Marlene noticed he seemed a bit uncomfortable. She took hold of his hand under the table.

"So what's your next step for your future after the wedding?" Elena inquired.

"I want to start an orphanage." Marlene announced.

"That's gonna cost a lot of money." Cloud said as he and Barret rejoined the group, both with smugly satisfied expressions on their faces.

"Where's Denzel?" Rude asked.

"He couldn't get time off work, not if he wanted to be at the wedding. He sent me a congratulatory letter." Marlene answered.

Rude and Elena exchanged knowing glances during the rest of the meal at Reno's unusual silence. Marlene's speech was extremely eloquent, and Reno was probably wondering if he was marrying a nerd. He'd learn soon enough, the wedding was only three days away.


	17. Chapter 17

"Wakey wakey!" Tifa knocked on Marlene's door, then when Marlene mumbled something, she entered with tray holding a steaming mug of coffee and a light breakfast. "How is the bride this morning?"

"Nervous but feeling like today is rather anti-climactic." Marlene admitted as she gratefully took the coffee mug.

"Well it wouldn't be anti-climactic if you hadn't vetoed the symphony orchestra." Tifa said stiffly, teasing her.

"Aunt Tifa…" Marlene started to say.

"Don't you _Aunt Tifa_ me, young lady. Especially since that's the last time I get to say that to you." Tifa's voice was slightly wistful. "You'll need to hurry up and eat and get dressed, Cid will be here in ten minutes to take us to Wutai. With the time difference, we'll have to get you ready on the way."

"Why isn't Reno taking us?" Marlene asked.

"He's flying the rest of the Turks in, and Cid has the room to take us and the rest of the guests and presents for those who couldn't make it." Tifa explained.

"Did you get my music disc for the reception?" Reno asked Rude as his partner helped Elena board his helicopter.

"Here ya go." Rude handed it to him after hopping in. He hoped it was the right one, Reno's apartment was horribly unorganized. "Today's the big day. Are you nervous?"

"He'll be whipped in no time." Elena pretended to say quietly to Rude, knowing full well that Reno would overhear her through the intercom.

"I ain't ever been whipped if I haven't paid for it first!" Reno retorted as he started the helicopter up and took off, unable to see the Chesire Cat grin on Elena's face.

"Are those all the presents?" Marlene saw a room with gifts and a bag of cards as she carried her wedding dress onto Cid's airship.

"Not all of them. There will be more at the reception. Come on, let's start getting you ready." Tifa hurried her into one of the bathrooms. "Take a quick shower, but don't get your hair wet. Here's a bathrobe and moisturizing soap." Opening a cupboard, Tifa handed her the items and took the wedding dress. "I'll be two doors down to your left when you're done."

"Why'd I have to take a shower first?" Marlene asked Tifa when she walked into the room.

"You NEVER put on your wedding dress unless you're clean…respect the dress!" Tifa exclaimed. "You made me the Matron of Honor to help you with this all, didn't you? Why did you have one custom-made like this?" She unzipped the garment bag, revealing the silk dress that was slightly revealing in a tasteful way, the color being cream or ivory depending on your eyesight. The trim was tartan, also made of silk.

"I did some research and this is the old hunting tartan for Clan Sinclair. After six years, I finally caught Reno." Marlene's smile unknowingly echoed Elena's.

Barret was walking around the airship, trying to avoid motion sickness and overheard the discussion. "Why do you still want to go through with this?" he asked, barging into the room. "You know what he's done."

An angry glint appeared in Marlene's eyes as Tifa minded her own business by inspecting the wedding dress for any flaws. "Tell me about my real father, Daddy. Tell me what happened to him after my mother died."

"Huh?" Barret was caught off guard by her question, and extremely disturbed by it as well. Marlene was never supposed to know about what Dyne became, so he tried to feign innocence. "What are you talking about?"

"Tell me why I should hold Reno to a standard that my own father would not pass." Marlene said with a determined look on her face.

Barret didn't know what to say to that, but he did know he was losing the argument, so he stormed out.

"You know a lot more than we ever wanted you to." Tifa remarked sadly as she locked the door and then handed the dress to Marlene.

"Don't worry about it, Aunt Tifa." Marlene forced a smile at her and undid her robe to get her wedding dress on.

When the airship landed as close to the Imperial Gardens in Wutai as it could, Cloud, Denzel, and Cid unloaded the gifts to the reception area while Tifa snuck a cloaked Marlene to the special enclosed gazebo set up for the bride and her bridesmaids. Yuffie and Elena were already there in their bridesmaid dresses.

"It's about time! We've got half an hour before it starts. Hurry up and get yours on, Tifa." Yuffie shoved the dress into Tifa's chest. The bridesmaid dresses were the same color as Marlene's wedding gown, but with red trim. The style was subtly Wutaian, since Marlene let Yuffie pick them out in gratitude for letting them have the wedding in the Imperial Gardens and the reception in the banquet hall.

"Fix her hair!" Tifa ordered Yuffie as she hurriedly got into her Matron of Honor dress, which was slightly fancier than Yuffie's dress.

"Oh, if Reno starts spouting any sexist nonsense, just ignore it. He's probably just repeating what Tseng said. My husband's ideas are best treated as a joke, since he won't know how to respond to that." Yuffie told Marlene as she approached her with a brush and a comb. "Really wish you would have kept the tiara."

"Your life is going to change very soon." Tseng told his second-in-command. "Have you discussed life insurance policies yet? The one we have on you is strictly to recoup the cost of training your replacement. You'll want to make sure Marlene and your heirs are provided for if something happens to you."

"Heirs?" Reno's voice turned squeaky as he got his tuxedo on. He hadn't even really thought about what living with Marlene would be like yet, let alone having bratty kids running wild over them.

"Yes. I hope you've told Marlene it's her duty to provide you with a son as your firstborn heir." Tseng continued.

"What did Yuffie say when you told her that?" Rude asked their leader as he helped Reno with the tuxedo in his role as Best Man, even if Reno fought a little about having the tuxedo look proper.

"It is extremely offensive to ask a man about his relationship with his wife." Tseng replied, unaware his face was turning red as he remembered how Yuffie had just laughed and slapped his ass.

Vincent sat down next to Barret in the very back of the aisle on the bride's side. He probably should have sat on the Turk's side, but when he had 'retired', most of them were either in diapers or hadn't even been born yet.

"Uh, congratulations." Vincent awkwardly told Barret, who merely grunted in reply as the musical cue sounded for the wedding to start.

Cloud and Rude both smiled as they saw their wives proceed down the aisle, and Tseng merely nodded with approval when he saw Yuffie. Reno was more nervous than any of his fellow Turks had ever seen him before as he caught sight of Marlene, but only they would recognize the signs, since a casual observer might think he hadn't a care in the world.

"We are gathered here today to witness Reno Sinclair and Marlene Wallace join in holy matrimony. Who gives this bride away to this groom?" Reeve started the ceremony.

Everyone started staring at Barret, who was still sulking in back, unwilling to admit his little girl was all grown up and starting her own family. With all eyes on Barret, Tifa hurried over to Cloud unobserved.

"Do something!" she hissed at him, then hurried back to her place.

"I…uh…give her away." Cloud blurted out.

"Very well. Be seated." Reeve told the audience.

Reno wasn't paying attention too much to what Reeve was saying. Marlene looked different today, and it wasn't just the dress with his clan's tartan on the trim. Her demeanor seemed changed as well, and he found himself just staring at her. Suddenly Rude nudged him and handed him Marlene's wedding ring.

Marlene was excited to see what her ring looked like. Reno had given her such a beautiful engagement ring that she was perfectly content to let him pick out their wedding rings as well. The platinum band was inset with three stones. A cairngorm in the center, and on each side of it were what she thought were pearls, but were actually tiny protection materia that Reno had come across and had a special jeweler spell them into the ring permanently. They didn't have much power, but it was better than nothing.

"With this ring, I thee wed." Marlene and Reno repeated as they put the rings on each other's fingers.

Barret grabbed Vincent's cloak and used it as a handkerchief, going back and forth between dabbing at his eyes and blowing his nose. Despite his objections which he knew better than to say out loud when Reeve asked for any, Marlene did look radiantly happy.

"I now pronounce you man and wife, you may kiss the bride." Reeve declared.

Marlene smiled when Reno hesitated momentarily and stepped towards him, taking his hand and pulling him down so she could kiss him. Her warm lips on his snapped him out of his daze, and he responded until Reeve cleared his throat.

"Let no man tear asunder this union. I now present to you Mr. and Mrs. Reno Sinclair!"

Reno and Marlene hurried into the carriage that the golden chocobos would take to the banquet hall entrance, as everyone pelted them with silvertine rice.

"Well, I'm glad that's over!" Marlene exclaimed, taking a deep breath as they felt the carriage start to move.

Reno stared down at his wife. _His wife_. It felt beyond weird to say that. "Why did you want to marry me, anyway?"

Marlene's eyes twinkled. "I promised my family I would wait til I was married, so there was no other way to find out if it was true."

"What's true?" Reno was confused.

"You are a Sinclair, are you not?" Marlene asked.

"Yeah." Reno didn't know what that had to do with anything.

"The clan symbol is a rampant cock." Marlene explained. "And the carriage is going to take its time getting to the reception so the guests will all be there before we are." Marlene's smile matched his as they pulled down the shades to cover the carriage windows.


	18. Chapter 18

Tifa was pacing back and forth nervously outside the entrance to the banquet hall, stopping when she finally caught sight of Reno and Marlene hurrying towards her, hand in hand, looking rather disheveled.

"Where's the carriage?" Tifa was surprised and worried.

Cait Sith ran out from behind the happy couple. "They spooked the chocobos! The carriage crashed! I didnae sign up for this!" The irate carriage driver continued his rant as he walked into the banquet hall.

"Well, at least you're alright." Tifa tried to ignore what obviously they must have been doing to spook the chocobos. "Please make yourselves look presentable." Tifa told them before going back inside to get things ready for their grand entrance.

"Good thing it was Aunt Tifa waiting for us, not Uncle Cloud." Marlene checked her dress and fixed her hair as best she could.

"I'm presentable enough, what was she talking about?" Reno casually pulled a small piece of the carriage door out of his hair.

"She's talking about how we're celebrating the result of the last six years with an extremely proper party." Marlene lovingly adjusted his shirt and jacket.

"Six years?" Reno refastened his pants.

Marlene's expression turned positively mischievous. "The best way to land a Turk was to launch my own long-term covert operation." She kissed him before leading her astonished husband into the banquet hall.

"We welcome the guests of honor, Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair." Nanaki roared. Yuffie had asked him to stay by the door in case he needed to go outside, and she had shown him where it was acceptable to do so. Then she had rubbed his ears and promised him a couple of the behemoth steaks that were courtesy of Cloud and Barret hunting one down.

The guests all stood up at Nanaki's announcement, and at a gesture from Tifa, they all started applauding, until Nanaki roared again for them all to be seated as Reno and Marlene made their way to the bride's table. Tifa made another gesture as soon as they sat down for the caterers to start serving the five-star meal. The first course, kiri soup, was served, then Cloud and Tifa offered a toast to Reno and Marlene's happiness, followed by Rude.

"They've already started on the happiness part." Tifa muttered to Cloud when they sat down and started eating the soup.

"Huh?" Cloud paused with the spoon halfway to his mouth.

"Nevermind. Eat your soup." Tifa took another spoonful of hers.

"That's an…extravagant cake, Aunt Tifa." Marlene said, looking at the four-tiered monstrosity.

"Not as extravagant as the gift table." Reno was itching to open all those goodies, wondering what people felt was appropriate presents for them. He smiled when he felt Marlene's hand on his leg under the table. Their romp in the carriage was better than he expected it to be, given her inexperience. He might just have to keep his promise to put out until he passes out when they officially start their wedding night.

Everyone enjoyed the gourmet meal, especially Nanaki when Barret gave him the promised steaks. They were rare as he had requested. Finally, Tifa shooed Reno and Marlene over to the cake table, and the photographer she hired put a new roll of film in his camera to get ready.

"So I had to get all proper just to get cake smeared on me?" Reno asked.

Marlene whispered something to him and he smiled and quit protesting. They took the knife and made sure the photographer got good pictures as they cut the cake and fed each other their pieces. Elena came over and whispered something to Tifa, who made sure the wireless microphone was turned on.

"We're having a slight technical difficulty with the music. Please bear with us, and the dancing will start momentarily." Tifa told the audience before walking over to Reno and Marlene. "You forget to give Elena your music CD." she told Marlene.

"Oh no! It's still at home." Marlene remembered.

"I've got mine right here." Reno handed it out to Tifa.

"Thanks." Tifa eyed the disc dubiously before taking it and heading off with Elena. She wanted Marlene's music first, because she trusted her music choices more than she did Reno's. Coming back moments later, she spoke into the microphone again. "Now we shall begin with the father of the bride dancing with her."

"How'd you get him to agree to that?" Marlene asked her.

"I can be very persuasive, especially with how he almost ruined the actual wedding." Tifa flexed her fists.

Barret joined Marlene in the area reserved for dancing, waiting for the music to start when everyone was startled when Reno and Rude's voices came out of the speakers instead.

" _Hey, be careful with that!" Rude exclaimed._

" _What is it, anyway?" Reno asked._

" _It's a new recording device the R &D team wants us to try out. Looks just like a small gold hoop earring…hey, come back here with it! Why are you going into Elena's room? We're here in Junon on official business!" Rude reminded him._

" _Didn't you read the report from Don Corneo that Tseng gave us? That renegade SOLDIER who rescued Aerith, he had her dress him up like a woman to infilitrate Corneo's place." Reno's voice implied he didn't like the fat sicko._

" _So?" Rude wanted to know what Reno's point was._

" _I bet it went like this…Aerith, does this dress make my mako eyes look prettier? Or does it make my butt look too fat?" Reno's voice changed to sound more feminine and needy._

" _Put Elena's clothes back before she finds you!" Rude pleaded._

The entire hall had fallen silent as they continued to listen to Reno's excellent mockery of Cloud's cross-dressing, and Tifa couldn't bring herself to look at her husband, sure she would laugh if she did. He had been embarrassed enough with that rescue mission for her at the time.

"What the…I told you to grab my **music** CD!" Reno snapped at his Best Man.

"We were in a hurry and you don't label your crap!" Rude defended himself as Reno took off in a lightning streak for the stereo when it suddenly stopped and a red-faced Elena walked out from the back room, holding his CD. She broke it in half before handing it back to him.

"Does anyone happen to have a music CD we could play?" Tifa spoke into the microphone when she got a hold of herself.

"Um, I have one." Vincent volunteered, handing one to Tifa, who thanked him and handed it to Elena.

A few moments later, a lovelorn melody started playing, and Marlene encouraged Barret to start dancing with her.

"That's the man you're married to, who likes to hurt other people." Barret told his daughter.

"Oh Daddy, I still remember that when Aunt Tifa told you about what Cloud did to rescue her, you started laughing so hard your gun arm went off and broke some of her liquor bottles at the bar." Marlene reminded him, and Barret just grunted as they kept dancing.

"You know you'll always be my little girl." Barret finally said.

"I know that." Marlene smiled and kissed his cheek.

Marlene then danced with Cloud, Tseng, and Rude before rejoining her husband. "It's almost over." she told him as they slow-danced to the music, even though it was a surprisingly modern upbeat song.

"You're all packed for the honeymoon?" Reno asked her as he saw the presents heading out the door to be loaded into his helicopter.

"I didn't know clothes were required for that." Marlene teased him.

"Why'd you pick that song?" Tseng asked Vincent as he sat down at the nearly empty table.

"Shelke had me start karaoking, hoping that might snap Shalua out of her coma." Vincent admitted.

"We would like to thank you all for coming. Unfortunately, the newlyweds need to leave now to get to their honeymoon destination on time. Please remember to take your wedding favors as you leave." Tifa gestured to the table where Denzel and his wife were stationed to make sure no one tried to take extra gifts.

"Thanks for _**everything**_ , Aunt Tifa." Marlene hugged and kissed the woman who had been her mother as long as she could remember, before she left with Reno. Moments later, the guests heard the helicopter take off.

"Where are they going for their honeymoon anyway?" Cloud asked as he approached his wife, who grabbed his handkerchief and started blotting the tears as best she could. "Hey, it's okay." Cloud held her until she calmed down.

"It's a top-secret honeymoon." Tifa eventually told him. "Reno wanted to plan that since we did the wedding and the reception."

"Where are we going?" Marlene asked her husband as she sat down in the co-pilot's seat.

"Cactuar Island." Reno confessed once they were airborne.

"Cactuar Island?!" Marlene was stunned.

"Yep, there's a great off-grid residence there that the research nuts used as a base when they wanted to study cactuars. They couldn't live without modern conveniences though, so it's perfect. No one will bother us, and it's fully stocked with supplies for years, but we won't be there that long. Plus it's a desert area that will be warm enough for you to not wear clothes if you really want to. No one but me will see you." Reno smiled. "Well the cactuars might, but they will probably think you're some kind of moving shrub or tree."


	19. Chapter 19

"Well, that's finally done." Cloud wearily announced as he surveyed the now-clean banquet hall.

"Let's get some sleep then. Yuffie has a room for us, and Cid will take us all back home tomorrow." Tifa forced herself to stand up from the chair she had slumped herself in. The day had exhausted her terribly, and she wasn't sure if it was more emotional or physical.

"Not bad." Cloud said when he saw the room. He wasted no time getting out of his formal wear and making for the shower.

"I need one too, just give me a minute." Tifa called out after him. She grabbed her toiletries bag and was about to pull out her diaphragm and pills when she paused. She and Cloud had decided when they first got back together that they would wait to have children of their own, since they already had Marlene and eventually Denzel. Not to mention the world being on the brink of total destruction three times in less than five years, and they both had a subconscious hidden drop of fear and uncertainty that Cloud's mental health might deteriorate again. And since they had never rediscussed it over the years, it just became an ingrained habit to use protection. But the thought of coming back home to an empty house nearly broke Tifa's heart, and she snatched her hand away from her contraceptives before she changed her mind, hurriedly joining her husband in the shower. "How about we relive our wedding night?" she asked Cloud.

Reno woke up first, and just laid there looking at his wife's sleeping body. That had been the best wedding night he ever had…he couldn't remember the last time he enjoyed being stiff and sore so much. He thought about Marlene's revelation yesterday that she had been planning this for six years. That would have been when she started working at Tifa's bar. She had expertly snuck into his life and his heart without him having a clue for four years until her eighteenth birthday party when she finally made her feelings public. He had to admit he was already half in love with her at that point. It had been a great ploy…Marlene would have made an excellent Turk. She had surprised the hell out of him, no easy task given how jaded he was. And she kept surprising him, with her dream of starting an orphanage and again last night with her willingness to experiment. For someone raised by the people he used to call 'The Boring Brigade', she was quite unexpected and he loved it, and her.

Reno stroked Marlene's hair as the morning sun peaked through the curtains. "Time to get up and open the presents!" he exclaimed when she finally opened her eyes and smiled at him.

Marlene sighed. "I don't know if I can get out of bed just yet."

"Well, if you're going to be that way…" Reno pulled her closer to him.

Eventually they made their way to the kitchen, Reno not bothering to get dressed, Marlene in a light robe. "Are you hungry?" she asked.

"Yep. If you wanna cook breakfast, I'll bring in the presents." Reno streaked outside towards the helicopter before she could say anything else.

After breakfast, Marlene let Reno pick the first present to open, since he was so excited about it. "Who's that from?" she wondered about the long skinny box he grabbed.

"It's from Rude and Elena." Reno glanced at the handwriting on the card he tossed on the table, then started ripping the wrapping paper off.

"You always read the card first." Marlene chastised him as she opened the envelope and took the card out. When she opened the card, a piece of thick paper fell out, and she picked it up, reading it and the card. "This is a gift from Rude. It's a contract. Arturo Zagato will be cooking us dinner for our first anniversary, wherever we are then." Marlene was amazed. "Arturo Zagato, he's the world's best chef, how did Rude manage this?"

"Because Rude's a foodie and he probably drove Zagato crazy by fawning all over him." Reno finally got all the wrapping paper off and opened the box, frowning when he saw the whip. "So that would make this Elena's present. I'll have to return the favor."

"Let's do this one next." Marlene handed him the one from Cloud and Tifa, taking the card first. "It's something for us to celebrate with."

"It's heavier than it looks." Reno commented as he opened the rectangular box. "Wow…this is a rare vintage." he told his wife after reading the label of the wine bottle. "Tifa's got excellent taste."

"How do you know Cloud didn't have the taste to pick it out?" Marlene watched him glance over the cards of the presents before choosing the one from Tseng and Yuffie.

"Um, cause she's the one who owns the bar and would have the liquor connections." Reno realized he better watch his step, he didn't want to compound yesterday's incident with the discs and say anything that could be seen as an insult to Cloud. He was just glad Rude hadn't grabbed the one where he had accidentally recorded one of his encounters with Yuffie a few months before she hooked up with Tseng.

"This will help you have a successful marriage." Marlene read Tseng's note, then continued reading what Yuffie had written below it. "I'm sure my husband gave you something boring, so I added something to spice it up." Marlene couldn't read what she had written next, because it was blacked out, but she thought part of it said _Reno knows_. Then Yuffie had written _Enjoy!_ at the end of it.

"What the…?!" Reno's exclamation made Marlene come over and look in the box. There were quite a few books and pamphlets on estate planning, wills, college trust funds, and the like.

"This must have been what Yuffie's note warned us about with Tseng's gift. But where is hers?" Marlene took out some of the books, then paused when she saw some things that at first she thought were some kind of decorative knickknacks until she noticed the shape of them. "Oh my…"

"Those are definitely from Yuffie, this is…" Reno picked one of the sex toys up, then stopped when he realized he probably shouldn't mention his past flings to his wife, even though he had talked freely about them in bar when she was there. "You pick the next present!" Reno hurriedly put the toy back in the box and closed it, tossing the box with the others.

"This one is from Denzel and his wife." Marlene read the card then opened the box, carefully taking the wrapping paper off to save it as a momento or reuse it. She had been amused with how childlike her husband was when it came to presents. "Oh, how nice. It's budgeting books and a plan on how to buy a house we can pay off in three years."

"Unsurprising present from an accountant. This one is from Barret." Reno handed the card to his wife.

"His gift is free babysitting for our children whenever we need it." Marlene didn't repeat what else the card said, since it was just him wanting her to come back to his house if Reno didn't treat her right.

"This is rather thick and lumpy for a card." Reno opened the envelope and keys fell out. While he picked them up, Marlene read the card.

"Oh my…" Marlene breathed in shock.

"What is it?" Reno grabbed the card from her. "Well I'll be fucked…Rufus and Scarlet bought us our own country home, and land for your orphanage in the town about ten miles away. He's also promised to help fund the construction. This is on the mainland, it's about three or four hours away." Reno said after looking at the coordinates.

"Can we go see it now?" Marlene wanted to see right away if her other dream was going to come true.

"For you, anything." Reno might have said it casually, but he meant every word.


	20. Chapter 20

"Why are you bringing those?" Marlene asked as Reno put more presents in the helicopter.

"These are from Vincent, Nanaki, Reeve and Cait Sith, and Cid and Shera. You can open them on the flight." Reno told her.

"Is it safe?." Marlene made sure she was strapped in as Reno took off.

"Yeah, you're just in the co-pilot's seat, I've got the master controls on my side." Reno explained.

That wasn't what Marlene had meant, but she trusted her husband. She brought one present at a time into the cockpit, carefully opening each one, telling Reno what each one was. "Cid and Shera are offering us a week's vacation in one of his private airships for our first anniversary. It's a small one, perfect for a couple's getaway. Nanaki gave us two small totems that's meant to bless our household with prosperity and fertility. Reeve's present is a gift card to _Gaian Goodies_ , it's a mail-order company for high-end kitchen gadgets and small appliances, as well as delicacies and rare ingredients. Cait Sith ordered a year's supply of milk delivery for wherever we live. Vincent's present is some kind of painting of a mother holding her child. I don't recognize it, but it looks old."

"We're not putting that it any main room." Reno said after glancing over at it. He wasn't big on 'art' in the first place, and when he was, he preferred modern abstract-type stuff. "Okay, now we're on auto-pilot until we reach the mainland."

"Why'd you do that?" Marlene asked nervously as she put the presents carefully back in the cargo hold.

Reno gave her a look which she was already familiar with and pulled her to him. "To show you why it's called a cockpit."

They were both extremely satisfied when Reno landed at the address of their new house. It was a charming two-story cottage on five acres of land, and Marlene hurried towards the door to unlock it, while Reno took his time. He found the postcard cuteness of the house a bit nauseating so far. He heard Marlene running around the house checking everything out, making happy noises he was getting familiar with. Plodding up the steps onto the covered porch, he braced himself to enter the house. The inside of the house wasn't furnished, which made it bearable to him. They could decorate it properly to counteract the sugary sweetness of the outside. Making his way to the kitchen, he was pleasantly surprised to find the design rather modern. There were no appliances, but it was spacious and it would be comfortable to spend lots of time here.

"There you are. I need to show you something." Marlene wasn't at all surprised to find her husband in the kitchen. He could eat like a horse without gaining an ounce, due not only to his metabolism, but the shape he kept himself in for his active life as a Turk.

Reno let Marlene drag him upstairs into one of the rooms, and he was surprised to find furniture in it. "Why are you showing me this?"

"I'm going to show you why it's called a bedroom." Marlene kissed him.

They landed on the two acres that was meant for the orphanage in the small village of Asarn, and once again Marlene was the first one out the door. She noticed that even though it was in the village, it was on the outer limits. It was a nice rural area, and there would be plenty of nature activities she could think of for the children in the nearby woods and wilderness. And the lot was big enough for a first-class orphanage, better than anything than Marlene had dared to dream of.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Reno saw the tears streaming down his wife's face as he approached her.

Marlene buried her face in Reno's chest as she tried to get control of herself. "Nothing's wrong, it's too perfect." she sobbed. "Let's go back to the island."

The remaining two weeks of their honeymoon went by fast. Marlene had thought about trying to make friends with the local cactuars, but she and Reno never went outside. They never left the bed unless it was to go to the kitchen or bathroom.


	21. Chapter 21

The sound was all the warning Elena had, and she looked up from reading the latest intel reports at their morning briefing to see the whip she had given the happy couple as a wedding present snap right next to her. Reno had brought it to work constantly in the two months since he got back from his honeymoon, harassing her with it whenever the opportunity presented itself. What made it worse was Rude's _I told you so_ expression, though he was never suicidal enough to actually tell his wife she brought it on herself.

"Pay attention, Elena. We've got a busy week ahead." Reno smirked at her.

"Neglecting your wife already?" Elena fired back.

"Not when I can fly back home anytime I want. Speaking of, since we're leaving at 1700 hours for this mission, I've got time to go home for lunch." Reno hurriedly left the conference room, hoping he'd have enough time for some fun with Marlene as well.

"He can't wait to get back to his wife." Rude mused with a smile.

"I told you he'd be whipped in no time." Elena told her husband, frowning when Reno poked his head back into the room and cracked the whip again. "I'm going to KILL that man." she said between clenched teeth.

Marlene was very busy at their new home. Not only did she have to furnish it herself, with some help from Reno, but she was busy planning the orphanage's construction as well. It was just as busy as college, with just as great a reward at the end. She just hadn't expected all that was involved in getting the orphanage built. She had to plan the structural details as well as all the decorative ones. Reno had been quite supportive and found the best architects and contractors for her, as well as interior designers. He had also promised to help find the best staff for her when it was time to open the orphanage. Reno's only requirement is that she have a helipad both at their home and at the orphanage. Thinking of her husband reminded her he'd be home for lunch soon. She stood up from the kitchen table with her laptop, blueprints, and design magazines all over it and went to the fridge to pull out ingredients for a quick meal and went to put them on the kitchen island when she suddenly felt extremely light-headed and dizzy.

"Hey honey, I'm home!" Reno called out as he walked through the front door. "Marlene?" he asked, worried when she didn't respond right away as she usually did. Wandering through the house, he found her collapsed on the kitchen floor, some blood coming from a head wound. "Marlene!" He noticed some blood on the edge of the kitchen island as well. Feeling the blood drain from himself as well, he hurriedly knelt beside her and checked her vitals. Reassuring himself she was still alive, he bandaged her head before carefully taking her into his arms and taking her outside to his helicopter, strapping her into the co-pilot's seat before doing his fastest takeoff ever.

Medical staff were waiting on the roof at the closest hospital that was staffed by some of W.R.O.'s finest. Reno had radioed in his E.T.A. as soon as he was airborne. Marlene was starting to come around as Reno gently handed her to the nurses. "Reno?" she weakly asked once she was safely on the gurney, looking around for him.

"I'm here, baby. It's okay." Reno took the hand she offered and bullied his way into the elevator when the doctors wanted to take her down into the hospital alone.

"What happened? My head hurts." Marlene told him.

"I was hoping you could tell me." Reno was already thinking about what he would do if someone had assaulted her. His dark thoughts were interrupted by his phone ringing. "What the hell is it? Oh, I'll try and make it on time. Marlene's in the hospital. I don't know, we just got here. I'll keep you informed." Reno hung up on Tseng as the elevator doors opened to the diagnostic floor.

Marlene's doctors were at their wit's ends trying to figure out how to keep Reno from interfering with her care when her husband was startled by someone tapping his shoulder. Whirling around, he was confronted by Vincent, who had Cait Sith on his shoulder.

"We're here to look after Marlene so you can go on what must be an extremely important mission." Vincent told Reno. "You know as well as I do what happens when Turks let our personal lives interfere with the job, if we're lucky enough to have them. Tifa's on her way as well."

Reno was about to refuse when Marlene squeezed his hand firmly. "I feel fine now except for the headache. It's probably because I've been working so hard planning everything with the house and the orphanage lately. Please go to work." she insisted. "I'll feel worse if you stay."

After a few more minutes of Marlene pleading with him to go, he reluctantly did, after Vincent promised ten times to call him as soon as there was a diagnosis.

"Aunt Tifa, I'm fine. I just got dizzy, that's all." Marlene protested when Tifa arrived and tried to baby her, irritating the nurse who was trying to check the bandage on Marlene's head. Vincent and Cait Sith had left once Tifa had arrived.

"Until we know why you got dizzy, we won't know if you're fine or not." Tifa told her, trying not to worry too much. Her own recent doctor's visit had been the good news she had been hoping for, but if Marlene was ill…Tifa cut off that depressing line of thought as the doctor walked in.

"We know why you got dizzy, but the good news is that it's nothing serious. Well, with some simple temporary lifestyle changes it won't be." The doctor went on to tell the astonished women what Marlene's diagnosis was.

Tifa texted Reno a simple message: _The verdict is in._ He texted back that he would be coming back to the hospital soon, and he'd probably be back in about three hours.

"You're going to tell us exactly where you took her." Reno told the man he and Rude were interrogating as soon as he got done texting Tifa back.

"Fuck you!" was the response.

"Thanks for the offer Manny, but that's what I have my wife for. And you should know better to mess with a man's wife. So…" He changed the taser setting on his weapon. "You're going to tell us: **Where** … **is** … _ **Scarlet**_?" Reno emphasized his last three spoken words by applying his weapon to Manny each time.

"Fuck you!" Manny repeated, but his voice wasn't as strong this time.

"I don't have time for this. We'll just continue this on the flight home. You ever been skydiving without a parachute, Manny?" Reno asked him.

"Took you long enough." Tifa's voice dripped with disapproval when Reno finally entered Marlene's hospital room, looking more disheveled than usual.

"So what's the diagnosis?" Reno asked after hurrying to his wife's side and kissing her on the forehead, looking back and forth between her and Tifa, nervous about the glances they kept exchanging.

Marlene took a deep breath. "I have gestational diabetes."

"Gestational…you mean…" Reno stared at her.

"I'm pregnant!" Marlene beamed.

Tifa barely held back a laugh when Reno collapsed. "Cloud had pretty much the same reaction." She got out her phone and took a picture of Reno sprawled on the floor, wet and covered with flowers from the vase he knocked over on his way down. "You'll need this for your photo album."

"Uncle Cloud? You mean…" Marlene was surprised.

Tifa smiled and put her hand on her stomach. "I just confirmed it yesterday."

"That's great. We can help each other out!" Marlene exclaimed as Reno slowly regained consciousness.

"You don't need my help right now though, call me if you need anything." Tifa kissed Marlene on the forehead as well before leaving.

"Did you say that…" Reno put his hands on the side of the bed and his head popped up as he started to pull himself up.

"We're having a baby!" Marlene happily reminded him.

"Wha…how?" Reno was trying to cope with Marlene's latest surprise for him.

"I'll show you." Marlene pulled him onto the bed with her and tugged at his pants.

As Marlene eagerly rode him, Reno realized he was just no match for her…his wife was the best, and their life together was never going to be boring. A child! Well, they never bothered with any sort of protection during their honeymoon, it was bound to happen, or there was no point in believing statistics and probabilities. He might as well sit back and enjoy it, piece of cake when Marlene learned his preferences rather quickly. They were both panting when she was done with him.

"That's how I got pregnant." Marlene smirked.

"I wasn't paying attention…you'll have to show me again." Reno replied, with a matching smirk.

"Oh you! The doct-" Marlene started to say.

Reno laughed and pulled her to him, kissing her into silence.


	22. Chapter 22

Marlene was finding it hard to stick to her plan the doctor had given her to keep her gestational diabetes under control and make sure nothing went wrong with the pregnancy. There was so much to do…Tifa and Cloud had temporarily moved in with them, since Reno was away frequently on some serious business he wouldn't talk to her about, but she could tell it was stressing him out. Tifa had wanted to move in with her alone, but Cloud insisted on coming along to make sure his wife didn't strain her pregnant self as well as help Marlene.

"Here's breakfast." Cloud brought Marlene in a tray filled with recommended breakfast foods for her.

"I'm feeling fine, Uncle Cloud. I could have come to the kitchen. I'm not an invalid!" she protested. "The doctor said to just follow the dietary plan, monitor my blood sugar, take it easy if I start feeling stressed or tired, and keep my appointments unless I feel sick, in which case come in for an emergency checkup. That's all."

"No, you couldn't have gone to the kitchen. It's not safe there. Your Aunt Tifa is letting the fucky-ducky architect know just what she thinks of his constant revisions of the blueprints into some damned frouffery. Her words, not mine. Her next mission is to deal with the budget the contractors came up with." Cloud explained.

Marlene sighed and started eating. "She's not taking over like she did with my wedding, is she?"

"No, she wouldn't do that to you again. She's just doing what she can to make sure they stick to your plans. Five floors, two hundred bedrooms and fifty bathrooms in the dormitory wing. The educational wing with a floor each for preschool, elementary school, middle school, high school, and trade school. The recreational wing will have a state of the art gymnasium with swimming pool, movie theater, and an auditorium for special events. The administrative wing would have offices for all the staff as well as the medical facilities. The wings are to join in a rectangular formation, enclosing the inner courtyard, which will be the playground." Cloud repeated the description he had heard so often it was becoming rote for him to say it.

"I'm not going overboard myself, am I, Uncle Cloud?" Marlene wasn't sure if her doubts were due to her condition or not, but she was worried she might be trying to make the orphanage too perfect.

"I think you're trying to do right by the kids who will need you." Cloud diplomatically replied. "And that's the whole point."

Marlene finished eating and put her hand on her stomach which was just starting to round out now that she was in her fifth month. "Okay now it's time for a walk. I don't want to get any fatter than I have to. This baby seems to have their father's appetite, but I don't have his metabolism. "

"Our baby has Tifa's stubbornness." Cloud said.

"What was that?" Tifa appeared in the doorway with her hand on her hips.

"I love you and our baby." Cloud blurted out as he all but ran to take the breakfast tray back into the kitchen.

"What's going on with the orphanage's construction?" Marlene asked Tifa while she got dressed.

"The groundbreaking will take place in two weeks on schedule." Tifa focused on Marlene's question instead of following Cloud. "But that architect needs to be seriously knocked around. Wanting to turn the orphanage into a castle or fortress type building…if it was a castle, I'd put him in the dungeon myself! What are you doing? Don't forget we're going shopping for more maternity clothes this afternoon."

"Going for a walk. I'll take care of the architect when I get back." Marlene said as she left the room. When she got out on the porch, her phone's special ringtone she had programmed for Reno's calls or messages went off. Taking her phone out of her pocket, she noticed there was a text message from him. _Meet me in the hangar ASAP._ Marlene was surprised, she hadn't heard the helicopter land, but she hurried to the newly constructed hangar, eager to see her husband again. "Reno?" Confused when she didn't see the helicopter when she entered the hangar, she was about to turn around when the door suddenly slammed shut.

"Reno failed to say how pretty his wife is." A man walked out of the shadows, and Marlene wondered what happened to him. He had evidence of what looked like unusual burn scars peeking out from the collar.

"Who are you?" Marlene edged closer to the toolbox and clenched one hand into a fist, while another searched for a tool she could use as a weapon.

"It doesn't really matter, but since you won't be telling anyone else, you can call me Manny." Noticing the wrench she was holding behind her like a weapon, the man took out a materia from his pocket and it started glowing. "I didn't think you'd come willingly."

A shockwave burst out from Manny's outstretched hand, and Marlene was about to hit the floor to avoid it when a blast of energy came from the doorway and dissipated the shockwave. Cloud was standing there with his Buster sword, and several smaller swords appeared and pinned Manny to the wall by his clothes, and he dropped the materia.

"Are you okay?" Tifa came running into the hangar towards Marlene.

"I'm fine, Aunt Tifa. Who is that man?" Marlene asked.

"I'm sure Reno will tell us when he gets here. He called and told us you were in trouble." Cloud told her.

A little while later they heard the helicopter, and it landed rather quickly in the hangar. Reno burst out of it and took Marlene in his arms, reassuring himself that she was okay. An ugly expression came over his face as he looked towards Manny. "W.R.O. will be here soon to take charge of the prisoner. In the meantime, I'll stand guard over him." Reno's calm statement managed to somehow sound extremely dangerous, and Marlene was going to object to leaving him alone with Manny, but Cloud nodded and the swords pinning him to the wall disappeared. He and Tifa started taking Marlene back to the house when they heard Reno talk to the man. "I thought I warned you the first time about messing with a man's wife, Manny." They hadn't gone that far from the hangar when the screams started.

"I guess Reno does have a good side after all." Cloud remarked to Tifa as they watched the W.R.O. team take Manny out of the hangar on a stretcher while Marlene was taking a nap.

"What makes you say that?" Tifa asked her husband, surprised that he hadn't figured that out years ago.

"He let the bastard live." Cloud put his arms around his wife. "I wouldn't have blamed him if they were taking him out in a body bag though." He had been surprised by the emotion in Reno's voice when he called to tell them Marlene was in danger in the hangar. An emotional Reno was something Cloud never expected to see. Or hear, in this case. He really did love Marlene to be that upset over her in jeopardy.

"Even if Manny didn't have materia, Marlene would have been able to kick his ass." Tifa replied, reminding him that she had given Marlene some self-defense instruction over the years.

"Who is Manny?" Marlene questioned Reno later that night in bed.

"A slow learner." was Reno's answer.

"That's not what I meant and you know it." Marlene had never seen the side of her husband that she had in the hangar. And now he was cuddling against her, putting his hands on her fattening stomach. But he seemed different to her, and she wasn't sure why.

"All I can tell you is that some people still want Shinra to pay." Reno admitted.

"You won't bring your work home with you again, will you?" Marlene wanted to know.

"Not if I can help it." Reno kissed her, as gentle with her now as he had been violent with Manny earlier. He made a mental note to find more protection materia for Marlene that he could disguise as jewelry.

"I've never seen Reno that angry before." Rude told Elena as they showered together.

"Seen? You weren't even there when Manny tried to attack Marlene." Elena pointed out.

"No, but I saw Manny's medical records. It was personal for Reno for some reason." Rude continued.

"What's this?" Marlene was surprised when Reno handed her a little gift box.

"Something to celebrate the groundbreaking ceremony this morning." Reno smiled at his wife.

Marlene opened it and gasped at the beautiful pendant necklace. The stones seemed to almost glow. "It's lovely!"

"So are you. Now we better leave now or we'll be late. And you're the guest of honor." Reno took the necklace out of the box and put it on her.

"Oh, he's adorable, Aunt Tifa!" Marlene looked at the baby boy who was still protesting losing his nice warm womb apartment. The midwife Cloud and Tifa had hired was cleaning up as the proud and exhausted mother introduced her son to breastfeeding, and he instantly quieted.

"Yes, he is." Tifa was beaming as Cloud put one hand on their child's head and his other arm around her.

"What are you going to nam…oh!" Marlene grabbed her stomach.

"What is it?" Reno burst into the room.

"I think our baby wants out too." Marlene told her husband with a smile.

"Okay, let's get you to the hospital." Reno picked up his pregnant wife, noticing Cloud and Tifa's son greedily feasting on his mother's tit. He wondered how long breastfeeding lasted, because he had first dibs on Marlene's, and wasn't looking forward to sharing them with their baby.

"I'm extremely competent, I can deliver your baby as well." The midwife protested their departure.

"Not with my wife's condition." was Reno's parting comment as he hurried out the door to his helicopter.

Marlene felt it was a good thing she was in the throes of intense contractions, otherwise she'd be attacking that stupid doctor who kept telling her to push, like she didn't know she was supposed to or that she wasn't trying. Let the damned idiot try to give birth with someone yelling at them. Her blood pressure was spiking as she did her best to deliver her and Reno's child into the world. Her husband seemed uncomfortable, but he was doing her best to support her through this, ten hours so far and counting. Suddenly her body gave one massive internal push all on its own, and she fell back into the bed when it was over, exhausted.

"It's a girl!" The doctor exclaimed moments later, followed by the baby's outraged cries.

"Let me hold my baby!" Marlene demanded as Reno was trying to catch a glimpse of their child as the nurses were fussing over her.

"She's got my hair!" Reno happily exclaimed as the head nurse handed the baby to Marlene, who started their daughter breastfeeding just like she had seen Tifa do. "Uh, how long before I don't have to compete with our kid for your boobs anymore?" 

Marlene looked out the window where their teenaged daughter was helping Reno fix Marlene's car that he had bought for her as a tenth anniversary present. They had named the girl Adelaide Renotta Tifa Elena Aerith Sinclair, because Reno wanted not only to honor his grandmother and the others who helped them become a couple, plus name the child after himself, altering the name to be proper for a girl. Everyone just called her Addy to make it easier. She grew up to be Reno's little princess, even though she was more of a tomboy than a girly girl. Two years after she was born, Marlene gave birth to twin boys, named Duncan and William. The orphanage took a while to achieve the results Marlene wanted, but eventually she was successful. They had branched out to also take in troubled youths, which was also another learning experience for Marlene, but it paid off. Finishing the snack tray for her husband and daughter, she went outside to see how much longer it was going to take to fix her car.

"Mom, how did you meet Dad?" Addy asked Marlene when she arrived.


End file.
